No More Mr Nice Sena
by NitaIce
Summary: What if Sena wasn't willing to be bullied? What if Sena was really smart? warning: yaoi, hiruxsena. Don't like, don't read.
1. Sena fixed

Bonjour, everyone! I've decided to try my hand at an Eyeshield 21 fanfiction. I thought it would be kinda fun to try. Anyway, this is going to be minorly different than the normal fanfictions about Eyeshield 21 that are out there. Enjoy!

**Summary**: What if Sena wasn't so meek? What if he had enough of being bullied and decided to be the one that could beat people up? What if instead of being an average student, he was really smart? Hiramaxsena. Slash so don't read it if you don't like it.

**Warnings**: Sex, yaoi, swearing, may or may not have rape. Depends on my mood. :D

Sena Kobayakawa watch as his childhood friend Mamori Anezaki walked off. They had just finished school and now summer was starting. In five and a half weeks Mamori would be starting junior high while Sena would be starting his late year of elementary school. Another year of being bullied, acting as a gopher, and barely passing his classes. It wasn't that Sena wasn't smart because he was. He had an IQ of 189. He was a genius; he just was too worried and scared most of the time to actually do well in his classes. Sena was small for his age and fairly timid. He was the perfect target for bullies.

His parents tried to boost his confidence by sending him to jujitsu, kendo, even had him take sword lessons. He was a black belt, and had been certified as a master in sword wielding for five years now. (A/N: as an response to a review that I received, there are four levels in swordsmanship. At least, that's what I've been told. Apprentice, Journeyman, Master, and Expert. ) He was completely capable of defending himself; he just wouldn't. He saw no reason for beating the bullies up when that would just make him the bully. He didn't want to sink to their level. Mamori knew why he didn't fight back so she protected him to the best of her ability.

As Sena walk home, he thought about the past year. He really didn't want to repeat it next year. Being a gopher sucked royally. Unfortunately, there were only two ways for him to not be one. One was to beat up the ones that pound him. He really didn't want to do that. The other way was to join a gang and be protected through that. Of course that brings its own set of problems. Besides he didn't want to be in a gang where he would just become gopher for them. While the gang's symbol would protect him from bullies, it wouldn't protect him from the gang or even other gangs.

'_Wait,' _Sena pause in his thinking. _'Symbols. A gang's symbol protects them. They use the symbols to protect and mark their territory. So what symbol would protect me but I wouldn't have to be part of a gang. Think, Sena, think.' _Sena wandered upstairs to his room, having arrived home while he was lost in thought. Lying down on his bed, Sena watched as the sun light rippled across the ceiling like waves. Waves! The one symbol that even gangs respect and left alone was of the docks.

The Tokyo ship docks were the toughest and deadliest places to work. The single most respected profession in Tokyo. There were a number of ways to get that symbol. The easiest and least painful way was to be a dock brat. Kids hang around there and run errands from the workers. They received a tattoo 

of an anchor in the shape of a "D" when they had run enough errands for the workers to know the kids by face. So that is what he needed to do. He needed to be a dock brat this summer.

Sena fell asleep that night with a plan of action that hopefully would end the bullying and would maybe let him actually pass his classes. One would hope anyway.

Yay! I'm done with the first chapter. Well, the prologue anyway. I fixed the IQ. Thank you to those that gave me the proper leveling of it.

NitaIce 


	2. Sena goes to the Docks

~ Hello all! I finally got my writer's block unstuck. I honestly thought that I would need to give my stories up for adoption. Thankfully that wasn't the case. I want to thank all of my reviewers for their support and for not giving up on me. Everyone, although this isn't something to celebrate, give three cheers. I receive my first Flame a couple days ago. I was so proud. I know that Flames aren't really a good thing, but I thought it was funny. The entire message was them swearing at me. Grant, the swear words were blanked out, but still. I will cherish my first Flame. I'm not upset over it because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Though, my thought is that if you don't like it stop reading. Anyway, please enjoy. ~

Disclaimer: I own nothing! I barely have $200 in the bank, people. If I owned these characters then I would be one rich mama.

Warning: this story is SLASH! That means that there is going to be boy on boy love. If you don't like that don't read. Also there is some swearing as well.

Thoughts: _Blah_

Speech: "Blah"

_Why me? Maybe being a dock brat wasn't the most intelligent idea,_ was Sena's thought as he slowly laid his sore body down on his bed the next night. He had gotten up early that morning, and headed to over to the dock ports. As he ran, he tried to think of different ways that going through with this plan could go bad. Although he had thought of everything from being chased away to being beaten up, he hadn't thought that thought that he would be in this position. He was playing gopher for the resident dock brats.

When he arrived at the docks that morning, he had found the area where the kids would wait for messages and orders. It was stack of barrels that were no longer fit to be used. They were stacked in a semi-circle two barrels with an old tarp tied on top of them as a roof to keep the sun off. There was some wooden crates nearby that he sat next to that would keep the worse of the sun off of him. He wasn't going to presume to sit in under the trap when he wasn't an official dock brat. He wasn't going to force himself on the ones that were already there. It was smart that he did so. When the oldest dock brat arrived, Sena was examined and stared at for a good five minutes. It was quite unnerving. Just as he began to fidget, the leader came over to him and scowled at him. The kid was taller than Sena by a good six inches. He was lean, with dark brown eyes and long black hair that was pulled back in a low ponytail. He was wearing a dark green muscle shirt and black cargo pants. Black combat boots finished the ensemble.

"What? To good enough to sit under the tarp with us?" he sneered. Sena stood so that the kid wasn't looming over him so much. Sena timidly met the taller kid's eyes.

"No, I just didn't want to presume that I would be welcomed." Dark brown eyes narrowed, staring straight into his own honey brown. Slowly, the taller teen smirked.

"Well, it's good to know that you have that much in the way of brains. My name is Deruku; I'm the head of the dock brats. Has you are here, I'm thinking that you've decided to join our ranks. It is not easy. You will work and work hard, or you'll wash out. There will be days when you will hate me and hate us. You will want to quit. There isn't any shame in doing so. Not everyone is made out for doing this. If you do decide to quit, just don't show back up. Don't come back to tell us, we won't care. All you'll get is a kick in the ass to get you on your way. Understood?" Sena nodded quickly. He had expected as much. No favors, just hard work.

"Now, since we don't know what you're good at, you'll just run messages for me. This way, the workers will get to know your face and your stamina will improve. The first message will be right now. Go to the main warehouse and find Reuisu-san. Tell him that Deruku said that the dock brats are good to go."

"Hai, Deruku-san," Sena said before he trotted off in the direction of the warehouses. As he went, he reflected that he went from being the gopher of small bullies to being the gopher of bigger bullies. _At least he hasn't hit me, yet._That was the only plus that he could see for far. Reaching the main warehouse, he slowly edged inside. The place was full of activity. Men moving crates to and fro; shouting orders and replies to each other. The only places that he seen with such activity was his school and the mall. It was awe inducing. Having looked his fill, Sena began scouting for Reuisu-sama. The man was remarkably easy to find. Sena was just about to walk further into the warehouse when he was hailed by a deep tenor.

"What you doing in here, brat?" growled a voice behind him. Sena jumped and turned around, emitting a quiet yelp as he did so. Behind him stood a tall, stocky man. Wearing a blue T-shirt and denim jeans, he stood at 6 foot with black boots as what seemed to be the norm from what Sena saw. Blue eyes glowered at Sena from beneath bushy eyebrows. The little hair that the man had was buzzed down to stubble. There were several tattoos on the man arms. On his left arm there was a picture of a mermaid with blue hair and a blue tail, as well as several tribal signs. On the right arm there was a tattoo of a whale jumping from some water, and some skull and cross-bone portraits.

"I-I-I'm looking for R-Reuisu-san. D-Deruku-san sent me to find him," Sena stuttered. The man's scowl deepened.

"Well, you found him. What does Deruku want?" the now-known-as Reuisu snapped. The man had a bad headache from dealing with several late ships coming in all at the same time. Sena swallowed hard.

"Deruku-san said to tell you that the dock brats are good to go," Sena was proud when his voice didn't shake when he spoke. Reuisu sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"At least they have the good sense to be on time. Alright, kid, tell him that I'll send someone around with some messages in a bit." Sena nodded and bowed slightly.

"Hai, sir," Sena quickly trotted off, not wanting to make the man anymore irritated. Reuisu blinked, a little surprised at the bow. He hadn't been bowed at like that in years. At least, the kid was polite and prompt.

Sena slowed to a walk once he reached the Lounge as he was now thinking of it. There were several more teen sitting under the tarp by now. They all were wearing similar clothing as Deruku-san. Making a mental note to buy something close to what may be the uniform, he spotted Deruku sitting near the opening of the Lounge. Quietly approaching the older teen, Sena came to a halt and waited to be acknowledged.

Turning to look at the small teen, Deruku took note of his physic. Sena was lean and small for his age. He had worn some simple blue jeans, with a light green T-shirt. He was wearing some tennis shoes to match the simple clothing. Deciding that the kid wasn't at all imposing, Deruku nodded to him.

"What did Reuisu-san say?"

"He said that he would send someone around with messages in a bit," Sena hesitated, then decided Deruku-san might need to know, "he looked like he had a headache. He mentioned something about the dock brats having the good sense to be on time." Deruku blinked, and then slowly nodded. Dismissing the teen, he went back to his previous conversation. Deruku was surprised that the kid had picked up on that small queues that Reuisu had given him. Most kids would have missed the mention of timing, or would have not mentioned it, thinking that it wasn't important. By telling Deruku that the dock brats had the good sense to be on time, the kid had let him know that there had been some late shipments that had arrived and that Reuisu had been dealing with several problems all morning. There will be more messages than normal to run.

Sena sat down by the wooden crates. He was really in awe of what he had seen and heard. He never knew that there were so many things that went on down here. He sighed, it really was amazing. He watched as the dock workers lifted and moved cargo from the different ships in the yard. Gazing around him, Sena felt like he would actually manage to stop being a gopher by the time he hit high school. Providing that he survived being here of course.

"Hey, kid! Come over here!" Deruku called. Sena quickly got up and came to stand in front of the older teen. Deruku handed him a piece of paper. On it was several names and numbers.

"Take this over to the west side of the D dock. Give it to the assistant director, Kuruchisu-san. He needs it right away. Wait to see if he has a reply, then come straight back. If he has a reply, come back here and let me know," and as Sena turned to go, "and what's your name?"

"My name is Sena, Kobayakawa Sena," Sena called over his shoulder as he trotted away. Sena set off at an easy, ground eating jog. As he jogged, Sena notice that the docks were rather damp and slick. He'll have to remember to watch how he stepped. Easily avoiding the various workers and cargo, Sena quickly made his way over to the west end of the dock. Looking through the crowd, Sena spotted a man with a clipboard. As Sena made his way over to the man, he took stock of the man, imprinting the man's image to memory. The man was surprisingly short, even for a Japanese man. Just barely taller than Sena's own 5' 1", he was stocky. Built along the lines of a small boulder, he had light brown hair and dark eyes. Like all the men Sena saw here, he was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of denim jeans, his shirt being light gray in color.

Coming to a stop near the man's elbow, Sena waited for him to finish giving orders to three workers. Sending them on their way, the man turned to Sena and raising his eyebrow, silently inquired what Sena wanted.

"I'm looking for Kuruchisu-san. Do you know where I can find him?" Sena quickly asked. The man grunted and nodded.

"Yeah, I know where you can find him. I'm him. What you want, brat?" the man's voice was a deep baritone. Sena held out the piece of paper Deruku had given him.

"I was told to give this to you. I'm to wait for a reply," Sena said, handing the paper over. Kuruchisu took the paper, and compared it to the list he had in his hand. Grunting irritably, Kuruchisu scrawled something on the back of note and handed it back to Sena.

"Give this to Richirudesnu-san. Then take this and his reply to Kuruchisu-san," Sena nodded his understanding, then gave a short bow.

"Hai," Sena trotted back to Deruku. Handing back the paper, Sena repeated his instructions. Deruku nodded, and then pointed where he could find Richirudesnu. Thus went his day. When he wasn't running notes to someone, he was sent to get drinks and food for the runners. He was given breaks to get his own food and to rest a few times. Around 6pm, the amount of running slowed to a few food runs. As Sena sat next to the wooden crates, he reflected that he didn't think he could move to go home. He was very tired, with sore legs. He had never ran so much, not even when he was gophering. Just as he was tempted to fall asleep, Deruku walked up to him. Not having the energy to stand up, Sena just lifted his head to gaze at him. The teen smiled slightly at the obviously exhausted kid.

"Alright Sena-kun, you can go home. Make sure you take a hot bath. If you don't, you'll be stiff in the morning. Come back at 5am tomorrow for your second day," Deruku said as he pulled Sena to his feet. "That is if you decide to come back." Nodding, Sena teetered off in the direction of his home. Sena didn't really remember his journey home, but he did recall the interrogation that his mom gave him the moment he stepped in the door.

"Where have you been? You didn't even leave a note to let me know where you were going! You could have been killed for all I would have known!" his mom had taken a deep breathe at this point, probably to yell more, however his dad had stepped in.

"Dear, he isn't dead, obviously. It's the summer time. He was probably playing with some friends," Shuma stated, calmly derailing the Mom-train before it even left the station. It was really quite amazing how his father could make his mom calm down without even lifting his head from behind his newspaper. Mihae considered this, then sighing, told Sena to go take a bath. Sena smiled grateful at his dad then quickly headed upstairs to take a hot soak. After soaking in the tub for an hour, Sena felt something close to human again. Dinner was quiet like always, Sena eating quickly so he could go to bed.

Having fallen face first into his mattress, Sena turned his head so he could breathe. Soon after thinking that becoming a dock brat wasn't the best thing to do, Sena succumbed to his exhaustion, slipping into a dreamless sleep.

When Sena woke to his alarm the next morning, he was very sore, not stiff thankfully, but very sore. He slowly stretched each muscle the best he could, then got up. Moving carefully, Sena got dressed in some jeans and a light T-shirt. Walking slowly down the stairs, Sena carefully walked, well hobbled, to the kitchen to get something to eat. Being the only one awake, Sena had to set up everything quietly so that he didn't wake anyone. Eating a quick breakfast, he made a lunch for himself so that he wouldn't need to go get one. He picked up his school bag; think that having the bag would make carrying things easier. He placed one of his sketch pads and drawing pencils in it with his lunch as well as a flashlight. Grabbing a notebook and a pencil, Sena left a note for his mom, and was out the door.

(A/N: there will something of a time jump soon. And so we all know, I'm working off of the mangas for the timing. They had a 40 day summer break. It's probably different for the younger years, but that time frame works for the story, so I'm going off of that. The time jump will be obvious.)

Sena arrived at the docks shortly before 5am. He once again sat next to the wooden crates to wait for everyone. As he waited for everyone to arrive, Sena pulled out the sketch pad and one of the pencils. Sketching was something that he enjoyed doing. It was relaxing and it was the one thing that he could do Mamori-nee-chan couldn't do well. Turning on the flashlight so that it shone on the first page, he began to sketch. As he sketched, Sena thought about Deruku. Sena was really impressed with the old teen. Deruku was the leader of the dock brats, there was no doubt. They all deferred to him and treated him with respect. The older teen didn't have to argue, yell, or threaten any of the other kids. They just did what he asked, when he asked. That was the mark of a good leader, when the ones he was ordering did so without complaint.

Glancing down at the half-way finished sketched, Sena chuckled. Without thinking about it, he had sketched Deruku's likeness. All that was needed to finish the sketch was to color it in. He hadn't remembered to bring his colored pencils, so coloring in the sketch would have to wait until he got home. Looking at his watch, and then looking around him, Sena decided that he had time to start another sketch before the rest of the dock brats arrived. There were only five other kids there and they looked half asleep under the tarp. Turning to the second page, Sena just let his mind wander while he drew.

Thinking back on yesterday, he decided that he did good, coming here. If he hadn't come, he wouldn't have ever met so many interesting people. Reuisu-san and Kuruchisu-san were just two of the many people that he met yesterday. He was thankful for his good memory right now; otherwise he would never have remembered who everyone was. Looking up, Sena closed the sketch of Reuisu-san and placed the book back in his bag. More dock brats had arrived while he was sketching, with Deruku just arriving. Said teen nodded to him in approval, as if he had past some kind of test. _Which, I suppose, I kind of did by coming back. It showed Deruku-san that I wasn't just doing this on a lark,_Sena thought.

"Came back I see," Deruku commented, as he walked up to Sena. Sena nodded as he carefully got up. He was still very sore from yesterday. Deruku noted that the kid didn't complain that he was sore, even though he clearly was.

"Sore?" Sena blinked, surprised by the question. He hadn't thought that Deruku would care if he was sore or not. Shrugging, he gave a slight smile.

"Better sore now than when it matters. If I'm sore now, I won't be sore when you need me to run six or seven messages in a row. If I'm sore now, that just means that I won't be as sore tonight or tomorrow," Sena stated calmly, pointing out the logic with the pain. Deruku nodded in agreement.

"Very true. Most kids that come down here don't understand that simple concept. Now, today won't be as busy as yesterday. I'll give you some messages if there isn't anyone else available. Your official job, starting today, will be to inform Reuisu-san that we're ready to go. He'll be in the main warehouse," Deruku, having given Sena his marching orders, walked back over to the Lounge. Sena trotted off to the main warehouse.

The day progressed in the same manner as yesterday did, the glaring exceptions being that Sena didn't run as many messages, and that he had time to sketch various workers and runners. It was just after 6pm when Deruku dismissed him for the night. He had just finished drawing one of the girl runners, Apuriru, when Deruku came up to him.

"You can head home if you want. There won't be many more messages at this time of night. Come back at the same time tomorrow," Deruku said, giving Sena a hand getting up. The younger teen was still kind of sore. He hadn't been given as many messages today, but the ones he had been given had made his muscles scream in pain. Sena knew that he needed to start doing some sort of work out if he wanted to get in shape quickly. Deciding to start doing his old karate work out when he got home, Sena gave a short bow to Deruku.

"Good night, Deruku-san. See you in the morning," Sena softly said before he started on his way home. Deruku gazed after the small teen, trying, and failing, to think of a reason as to why such a polite kid would be trying to become a dock brat. Shaking his head, Deruku went back to the remaining runners.

Sena arrived home a little bit before 6:30pm. Since dinner was at 7pm, Sena decided to do his exercises before dinner, while his muscles were still warm from his jogging back. Heading to the backyard, he placed his bag next to the door. Stretching, Sena slowly began throwing punches and kicks. Gaining speed as he went, Sena was soon a blurry ball of motion. He was a little stiff since he hadn't done karate in a while, and his muscles didn't want to move due how sore they were, but he was soon moving smoothly. After fifteen minutes, he slowed down and did his cool down stretches. Grabbing his bag, he went inside and headed for the shower.

After his bath and dinner, he went to his room. He was debating on going straight to bed or to color his sketches. Deciding that he didn't like leaving them unfinished, he pulled out his colored pencils. Opening the sketch pad to Deruku's picture, Sena began shading in the background. He relaxed as he ran the pencil over the paper. Quickly, but neatly, coloring in the rest of the picture, Sena moved to the next one. A half hour later, Sena had finished filling in the drawings. Placing the pad back in the bag, Sena placed the colored pencils in there as well. He didn't like not finishing a sketch once he started it. Bring the pencils with him will cut the time that he focused on a picture in half.

Sena laid down shortly after. He was very tired, plus he had to get up early in the morning. _At least I didn't disappoint Deruku-san by not coming this morning. I think that he wanted me to come back. Sena thought before he dozed off._

_~ Yay! I'm done! I'll definitely update quicker this time round. The next chapter will be the big one that marks the change in Sena so look out for it! Review maybe?__ Please? ~_


	3. Dock A

~ Hello! Bows. I still exist, so do not despair! So, welcome to the next installment of my story. I hope that you enjoy it. And, yes, I did have a lot of sugar. Now, in regards to the reviews that I received, thank you to all that replied. I'm glad that you liked it. Some of the reviews require a response, so here they are:

Shinigami Nanashi-san - First, thank you, for the review. Second, I didn't type it up in bold. I didn't even realize that the chapter was in bold until you said something about it, I took a look then. I don't really know how to fix it, so I'm afraid that if the chapters are in bold we will just have to put up with it until I figure out how to change it. Sorry.

Photo Shy HxS Fan 2.0-san - I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter. I'm sorry that you had given up on my story, but you are right. The writer's block just hit me good and hard. However, you're suggestions for Hiruma gave me some ideas for some later chapters. Through I think that the Yakuza would be afraid of Hiruma since he probably has dirt on them and proof to go with it. LOL.

Alright. Now, I don't think that I gave some VERY important background info and everyone will need to know it to understand this chapter. There are FOUR, I repeat FOUR docks. Dock A, Dock B, Dock C, and Dock D. Dock D is the easiest dock to get into. The higher the dock letter, the rougher and harder the dock is. Sena aimed for Dock D. Each dock has its own set of runners. If a lower dock manager thinks that a runner would do well in a higher dock, he sends the kid with a message to the next manager to test the kid. That's how they know how well a kid will do. I'm sorry that I didn't make that distinction earlier. It was part of the original plot for the story, and I'm not deviating from the plot.

Anyway ENJOY! ~

Disclaimer: as I have stated before: ME NO OWN! If I did, well Sena would be with Hiruma like two days in to the manga. Well, maybe not two days, but still. J

Warning: swearing and yoai. This means boy on boy action people! If you don't like, then don't read it. If you plan on Flaming me, please note that I don't really mind Flames and that I find them highly entertaining. As a personal opinion, if you don't like something an author does in a story, inform them of it; and then give other options that they could have done. Don't just swear at them, and then inform the author that they're a bad author and that they suck. That's just childish and shows that your maturity level isn't very high. Please note that this is a personal opinion, not a general one.

Speech - "Blah"

Thought - _Blah_

Two weeks have passed since Sena's first day, and he's settled into a comfortable routine. He wakes up early, eats breakfast, then grabs his things and runs down to the dock. He then sits next to the wooden crates, and waits for everyone to arrive. While he waits, he draws and shades different people. Once Deruku-san arrives, Sena trots off to inform Reuisu-san that they were ready to begin the day. The days are then spent running messages, sketching, and getting things for the dock brats. He gets sent home at six; he does his karate workout, eats dinner, and takes a bath, then goes to sleep. Repeat the next day.

It was quite normal for Sena to come home sore the first few days, but as he became used to the amount of running that the brats did, he grew less and less sore. It was two weeks to the day that Sena first went down to the docks, and he woke at his usual time. Today wasn't the same as the previous days, as he didn't wake up in pain. He was pleased to find that he could stretch his body out and he didn't fell as much as a twinge. Getting up, he stripped his pjs and pulled on his clothing for the day. He had long since bought some similar clothes to the ones that the other teens wore. He followed his usual routine, and was on his away to the docks in ten minutes.

Arriving earlier than usual, Sena settled down at his spot. He had long since stacked them so that they formed a small hollow, similar to the Lounge, to get out of the sun. He had also set his flashlight so that it shone down from a corner. Noting that it was going to rain, he placed his bag in an empty crate near him. He slid in to the hollow, making sure that he could see the Lounge and that he could be seen as well. Turning the flashlight on, he pulled out his sketch pad. Opening it to a picture that he had been working on for the past few days he began to color it in. It was a drawing of the Lounge with all of the dock brats in it. He was in the process of carefully shading a red color in one of the teen's hair when he heard Deruku-san being hailed by one of the kids.

Setting the drawing aside, Sena got up and out of the crate, then headed off to Reuisu-san. It had started to drizzle while he was preoccupied. Carefully skirting workers, Sena made his way over to the main warehouse. Quickly spotting Reuisu-san talking to a worker, Sena moved to stand next to him. The worker, Samuerusonu-san, nodded to him before confirming that he understood Reuisu-san. Dismissing Samuerusonu-san, Reuisu turned to his head towards Sena.

"Brat, is Deruku ready?" the tall man asked. Sena smiled up at him.

"Hai, Reuisu-san. Deruku-san is all set. Shall I tell him that you're ready?" Sena inquired, tilting his head. Reuisu grunted, waving his hand in dismissal. Sena bowed and headed back to the Lounge. Seeing Deruku-san looking his way, Sena waved slightly, then gave him a thumbs-up sign; showing that they were set to go. Deruku-san nodded, and then turned back to Kode-san, a fellow runner. Heading back to his wooden shelter, Sena notice a large coil of rope and a big three pronged hook lying in the middle of the walkway. Thinking that he should move them so that they weren't in the way, he picked them up. Taking them with him, he sat under the protection of crate's wooden sides.

Gazing out, Sena watched as Deruku set runners to and fro. Bored, he turned back to the hook and rope. Shrugging, he looped the rope through the hook's circler opening. Tying off the square sailor's knot that one of the teens had taught him, Sena idly started to swing the hook back and forth. Back and forth, back and forth. It was hypnotic, really. Blankly gazing out of his hole, Sena didn't really watch everyone do their jobs. He listened instead. Listened to the rain lighten to a light mist; listened as feet ran on the wooden planks; vaguely listened to the talk of everyone.

_**Creak, pop**_. Sena blinked, startled out of his trance. Stopping the swinging hook, he looked around. He didn't see anything that would have made that sound. Listening hard, he heard it again. _**Creak, pop**_**. **It was faint, the sound of rope being strained and then snapping. Looking towards the end of the wharf, Sena headed over to the only ship that was being unloaded.

Standing near, but not close enough to be in the way, Sena carefully looked over the crane. It was slowly lowering a load of looked to be fragile porcelain. The operator of the crane had stopped the machine, leaving the porcelain hanging in mid-air. Hearing the sound again, he looked to the rope supporting the load. Near the top of the crane, the rope was beginning to unravel. The workers didn't notice as they were clearing the area under the load. Knowing that there was no time to call to the workers, Sena looked about quickly.

Spotting a metal rope anchor (A/N: like one of the ones you would anchor a boat to on a dock with) close to the crane, Sena loosen a loop of the hook and rope that he had unconsciously taken with him. Spinning the hook to give it momentum, he let it fly. Up and over the crane's metal neck; down to hook the net supporting the large crate. Pulling the rope tight, Sena looped it around the metal T. Throwing the rest of the rope behind him, he took hold of the rope, and bracing himself away from the end of the wharf, wrapped it around his hands and arms. Just in time, as the rope holding the porcelain up snapped completely. The only thing keeping it from crashing down was Sena and his rope, who was sliding forward on the slick planks.

Deruku, having seen Sena head over and followed, shouted something to the dock brats, and grabbed hold of some of rope; right behind Sena. The others quickly followed in suit. The workers, having been shocked when the rope snapped and even more shocked when the crate didn't fall immediately, ran to help. More workers went to brace and support the crate. Sena was currently swearing every word that he had ever heard in his head, not having the breathe to do so out loud like some of the people behind him, as the strain of the large crate pulled at his muscles.

Off to the side, Reuisu was running towards all of them to take charge. Bellowing orders left and right, he made his way over to the line of workers and dock brats who were the sole support to for the crate. Nodding to them, he made sure that everything was clear, and then gave the order to lower the crate.

"Alright, everyone! Slowly now! Let go the rope in small chunks. We don't want to lose it! On my mark!" Reuisu shouted, lifting a hand. Bring his fingers forward, he gestured for them to bring the crate down, watching the crate make its descent.

"Loose!"

Opening and closing his hands in time with everyone, Sena let the rope slid through his fingers. Wrapped around his arms and hands as they were, there was an uncomfortable burning sensation as it moved. Clamping down on the urge to grimace, he watched as the crate was safely lowered to the ground. Once there, Sena waited until everyone had let go of the rope, so that he had the slack to unwind it from his arms. Deruku took hold of a slightly bloody limb. Looking it over, Deruku made a face at the rope burns.

"You need to get this cleaned, Sena-kun. Leaving this untreated is just asking to have it infected," Deruku informed the now wincing teen. Sena nodded, he was in full agreement there. Telling Apuriru-san to take over for a while, the older teen led Sena toward the main warehouse. Going up the office, Deruku told Sena to sit down on the old couch. While Deruku was looking for the first-aid box, Sena took in the sparse office. Off to the right side was an old desk with papers on it. Behind it was a well-worn brown chair. Along the walls where filing cabinets. To the left was a counter with a sink. On the counter, there was a coffee maker and a half full cup.

Having found the first-aid kit, Deruku knelt in front of the small teen. Taking hold of one of his hands, Deruku began cleaning the bleeding burns. Wincing at the sting of alcohol, Sena watched as Deruku disinfected his hand and arm, put some antibiotic on the burns and then wrapped it. As he was doing the same to the other hand, the door opened and Reuisu-san walked in. Frowning at the pair of teens, Reuisu came over to see what kind of damage was done to the smaller teen.

"How bad are his hands, Deruku?" the older man asked. He wouldn't be admitting it any time soon, but Reuisu had taken a liking to the kid. The brat never complained, was very polite, and was still somewhat innocent, considering the blushing that Reuisu had seen the kid do over some of the things the kid heard around here. Reuisu found kind of funny, as well as endearing.

"They'll be alright in a couple of days. The burns weren't too bad," Deruku said, looking up at the man. Turning back to Sena, he tied off the bandage. Packing up the first-aid kit, he stepped away.

"Sena-kun, make sure that you clean and change the bandages every day, ok?" he asked, concerned. Sena smiled and nodded his understanding. Standing, Sena waited for either Deruku-san or Reuisu-san to give him an order. He was going to have to wait a while to receive one.

"Deruku, what tipped you that the line was going to break?" Reuisu inquired. They were real lucky that that load of porcelain hadn't gone crashing down. The lives of the workers under it would have been lost and the people that the cargo was for would have been furious. Deruku shook his head and nodded to Sena.

"I didn't know that the line was going to snap. Sena-kun did. I had noticed that he had gotten up and moved over to where they were unloading the ship. I followed him to see what was so interesting. The next thing I know, he had that rope and hook flying over the crane's neck and was tying it down. Just in time to, since the supporting rope snapped right then. I ran over to help him, yelling for the others to help as well," Deruku explained to a surprised Reuisu. Both turned to gaze at a now blushing Sena. Reuisu gestured for him to tell his side of the story.

"On my way back from telling you that the dock brats were ready, I had spotted the rope and hook in the middle of the walkway. I didn't want them to be in the way, so I picked them up and took them with me to my spot," Sena said, explaining why he had the rope in the first place. "I had been waiting for Deruku-san to bring me a message to run when I heard a sound. It sounded like some rope straining and breaking. Hearing it again, I got up to look for the source. Seeing the ship being unloaded, I went over there. Watching for a little while, I heard the sound of a third time. Looking up at the support rope, I saw that it was unraveling. There wasn't any time to warn anyone, so I threw the rope over the crane to catch the crate. I hoped to just anchor it until someone noticed." Sena shrugged at the end of his explanation. It was simple logic to him.

"Quick thinking," Reuisu commented. It impressed him that the kid had shown such quick planning and the guts to try to support such a large load. Deciding that he needed to see if the kid could handle the higher up docks, he turned to Deruku.

"You two can head back now." Nodding to the older man, Deruku motioned for Sena to follow him. Sena bowed to Reuisu-san before following Deruku out of the office. Walking slightly behind the older teen, Sena went over what had happened in his head. Deciding that he did do the right thing, he came out of his head long enough to separate from the older teen and head to his spot. Noting that someone had placed the rope and hook that he had found in his spot, he sat down in the small hollow. He was somewhat spacey for the rest of the day. When Deruku sent him home, the older teen told him to make sure to check the bandages and to get some rest.

Sena went through his workout and went inside to make dinner. His parents had gone out for the evening, thankfully. He didn't want to explain the bandages. Eating quickly, he went upstairs to bath and change the bandages. Once clean and changed, he went to bed, exhausted from the day's events.

~~~minor time jump~~~~

The following two weeks was interesting for Sena. He had been sent on more message runs than normal. The runs weren't always on Dock D either. He was sent to Dock C and Dock B a few times. Each time that he was sent he was given some messages to run on that dock. It was kind of strange really. He hadn't meant to get the attention of the higher up docks. They were tougher and rougher than Dock D, which is why he choose that particular dock. It was the easiest one that Sena thought he could get into without getting beaten up. But, there hadn't been any mishaps while he was running the messages, so he just assumed that there good reasons for the messages and went with it.

It was a week before he was going back to school and he was kind of excited. He hadn't gotten the dock tattoo, but he was stronger and had more confidence in himself now. He had survived a summer at a place where none of the boys that bullied him would be able to. He was quite proud of himself. He was hoping that even without the tattoo, he would be able to break out of their shadows. Maybe the scars from the rope burns would make them stop to think. They had healed well, and the scars had faded some.

Sena was currently on a noon food run for some of the runners. He had gotten the food and was on his way back when he saw stopped by some of the every bullies that he was hoping to leave behind. He had taken a short cut through an ally when they showed up. They stood in front of him blocking his path. A few more blocked the way behind him.

"Well, isn't it our dear friend _Sena-kun_," Mamoru drawled. He was bigger than the beginning of the summer. The others had gotten larger too. Sena hadn't thought that they would come looking for him during the summer if he didn't go to the places that they hung out at.

"Mamoru-kun please let me pass. I have somewhere to be right now," Sena said, standing up straight and proud. He wasn't going to be cowed by some little boys after the summer that he just had. If he could survive the docks then he could stand up to them. He tone caused some of the boys to raise their eyebrows in surprise. Mamoru narrowed his eyes, not liking that it seemed like Sena had lost his fear of them.

"Really now? Well that's just too bad, because we need to have a talk with you. We haven't seen you all summer and we missed you, didn't we boys?" Mamoru asked, grinning meanly. Without warning, he swung his fist straight at Sena's face. Sena quickly moved his head back, dodging the blow. However the other boys had taken Mamoru's actions as a signal, and they joined in, swinging and kicking.

Sena was able to block several of the blows and he gave as good as he got, but it was ten against one, and he was soon overwhelmed. He continued to kick and block even when he was on the ground, but he really wished that he had some help. A wish that came true, in the form of several dock brats, including Deruku.

Deruku had wondered what was taking Sena so long, since he never was gone more then ten minutes when he was getting food, and it had already been fifteen minutes. So he went to go find him. Several of the boys came with, since they were bored. Deciding to at the ally as a short cut to the food place, they arrived in time to see Sena go down to the ground fighting. The boys didn't even need an order; they went straight to the rescue.

Sena was surprised when the blows suddenly stopped. Looking up, Sena blinked at the sight of Mamoru and his friends getting beaten up by the very people that Sena had left them for. Deruku had taken care of Mamoru himself. The boys didn't stand a chance. They were down on the ground within five minutes. Once the dock brats were sure that the bullies weren't going to be attacking Sena again, they moved to make sure Sena was ok. Sena, having gotten up while they were dealing with his childhood bullies, leaned against one of the ally walls. Tiredly gazing at the faces that he had grown to respect, he have a small smile.

"Sorry for being late, guys. I was detained," Sena said through a bloody lip and handed the food over to Ronu-san, one of the runners that he bought the food for. He had several bruises and cuts on his arms and legs. He was a mess, and the dock brats weren't really all that surprised that he apologized for being late when he had gotten beaten up. Deruku shook his head at the smaller teen.

"Sena-kun, don't apologize for something out of your control. Come on, you need to have those cuts looked at and I'm sure that Reuisu-san is wondering where we are," Deruku said coming over to help Sena walk. Sena gingerly transferred his weight form the wall to Deruku's shoulder. Deruku glanced over his shoulder at the bullies, and then looked at the other boys. They nodded, they got the silent message. They were to make sure that Mamoru and his friends knew that Sena was off limits from now on.

Even though Sena was hurt, the two boys quickly made their way back to the dock and into the main office. Reuisu glanced up from the paperwork on his desk to see who it was coming in. Seeing Deruku supporting a bloody Sena, he quickly stood and got the first-aid kit. One look at Deruku told him that he would be getting an explanation later. After patching Sena up and giving him some aspirin, Reuisu dismissed Sena to either go home or back down to the Lounge. Sena went to the Lounge; he wasn't going to leave because of some bruising.

On his way to his spot, workers asked him if he was ok and what had happened. He smiled back, said that he was fine, and that some older boys had taken a minor dislike to him. He was quite surprised that the workers noticed him at all really. Sena would have been shocked to know that the workers all had a soft spot for him and thought that he was really quite cute for a kid.

Arriving back at his spot, he didn't get a chance to sit down. The girl runners had spotted him, and taking in the bruises, all came over to mother him. They moved him back towards the Lounge instead of his little hollow. They were all quite upset that their little 'brother' was hurt. Sena was really unsure what to do with all the girls hugging him and asking him what happen. So he just smiled and said that he was fine.

~~~~Meanwhile, back with Reuisu and Deruku. ~~~~

"What happened?" Reuisu demanded to know. He didn't like that Sena was hurt at all. It was clear that he had been beaten up, but he didn't know how or why. Deruku sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Sena was on a food run. He never takes every long to get food, so when he was taking longer than normal, I went to go find him. Some of the boys came with because they were bored. I had decided to take a short cut through an ally. In the ally, we found Sena surrounded by a group of boys that looked to be his age. I think that they went to school with him. They were hitting him. He was fighting back, but the odds were ten against one. He was overwhelmed, and was on the ground when we arrived. The boys and I stepped in and kicked their asses for hurting him. I came back with Sena, while the boys stayed to make sure that those bullies knew that Sena was off limits. I'm pretty sure that those boys are the reason that Sena decided to join the dock brats. If he was a dock brat, then they wouldn't touch him," Deruku explained his theory. Reuisu nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, that makes sense. I had wondered why such a nice kid would come down here. He probably had the choice of joining a gang, or joining us. Becoming a gang member would have gone just has badly for him, so he came here. Smart of him really," Reuisu said, still thinking. Coming to a decision, he looked at Deruku.

"Deruku-kun, I've been thinking. Do you think Sena is ready to be mark as one of us?" Deruku blinked, caught off guard by the question. Thinking back on the past four weeks, he had to concede that Sena was every good at running messages. The kid never stepped on any toes and was very polite to everyone. Thinking on the last meeting that he had with the other dock brats' leaders, he had to say that Sena had impressed everyone that had met him. The only person that didn't have an opinion was Chirurie-kun, the leader of Dock A's brats, as he hasn't met Sena yet.

"I think that it would be a good idea. All of the workers know him by name now, and he is the favorite of all of the dock brats that know him. Although, Sena-kun hasn't been to Dock A yet. I think that instead of asking Seberusu-san to come here, we should send Sena-kun up there. That way he gets to see Dock A, and we can see how he can handle everything up there," Deruku said slowly. Sending Sena to Dock A was kind of risky, considering how rough it was up there, but he handled the other docks with ease. Reuisu thought about it.

"True, we can see how he handles it up there. I have a message that needs to go to Marukusu-sama anyway. Seberusu-san won't be in until five though, so we'll wait until then to send him up," Reuisu said, handing some messages over to the teen. Waving a hand, he dismissed Deruku.

"Alright, Reuisu-san. Let me know when I need to send him over," Deruku nodded, leaving.

Deruku quickly made his way over to the Lounge. He stopped to stare when he got there. Sena was currently in the middle of a female huddle, being smothered with affection. It was very clear that the kid didn't know how to handle the situation, as he was giving any male that he saw a look that practically screamed "HELP ME!"

Chuckling, Deruku came to the rescue for the second time that day, give the girls the messages to run. The girls all pouted at him, but took the messages. They knew that he had given them the messages so that they would leave Sena-kun alone. Sena gave Deruku a look of gratitude for saving him. Deruku gestured for him to go sit down. Sena smiled and made him way to his spot. Sitting in the cool shade, Sena got a drink of water from his water bottle. He was glad for the rest. He hurt in so many places.

The day quickly passed without any more hiccups for Sena. He ran a couple of messages up to Dock C and B, but nothing went wrong. The dock managers gave him a strange look after reading their messages, but they didn't say anything beside to give a couple of messages to their own dock brats. He was quick to hand the messages over and to get out of their way. Around five, Deruku called him over.

"Sena-kun, I have a couple of messages for you to run before you head home. They are both going to the same place so it shouldn't take too long. Give both of these to Marukusu-sama on Dock A. They need to get over there as quick as possible, ok?" Deruku asked, handing the messages over. Sena nodded, eyes wide with shock. He didn't think that he would ever be sent to Dock A. That was the toughest dock there was. Eyes still a little wide; Sena took off at an easy trot. He didn't want to slip on the damp planks. Quickly making his way through the crowded walkways, he waved and smile at the workers when they called greetings to him. This was a common occurrence now.

Upon entering Dock C, he gave Binsentsu-san, the leader of that dock's brats, a nod and wave of greeting. He didn't slow down, though, which let the older teen know that the message wasn't for this dock. Sena moved through that dock with the same ease and familiarity of his own. Dock B was the same, though Jinnifuru-san gave him a startled look when he didn't slow down. He just gave a weak smile back to her. He really didn't know why he was being sent in to Dock A either.

He slowed when he reach the opening to Dock A. Looking around, he spotted the dock brats for this dock. Moving towards them, he was quick to locate the leader of them. The boy was sitting down, though Sena could tell that the teen was taller than him. He was wearing a black muscle shirt with black cargo pants. Combat boots adorned his feet. The teen had shaggy black hair and dark eyes. He was very muscular as well, though he was lean rather than bulky.

Coming to a stop in front of the teen, Sena waited for him to acknowledge him. When the teen looked at him, Sena bowed politely.

"Hello, my name is Kobayakawa Sena. I'm a runner from Dock D and I have a couple of messages for Marukusu-sama from Reuisu-san," Sena said quietly. He didn't want to offend the teen. He looked like he could easily kill Sena with one hand. The teen looked him up and down, studying him. Nodding, he stood up. Walking over to Sena, he pointed to a warehouse.

"I'm Chirurie, the leader of the dock brats of Dock A. Marukusu-sama will be in that building. Let me know if he has any messages to run. If he gives you one to run, come back here so that I can tell you where to find the person it is for," Chirurie said in a low tenor. The teen was over 6'. Nodding his understanding, Sena bowed once more and made his way over.

Along the way several workers tried to hassle him, blocking his way, making rude comments and trying to grab him. Sena, face blushing a deep red, easily sidestepped the grabs, and replied to the comments with set downs of his own. He was quick to get past the workers, and made it to the warehouse without losing any time.

Chirurie raised an eyebrow, having seen Sena get past the workers with relative ease. Most of the runners that get sent up here aren't able to do that. He usually has to step in to get the workers to leave the runner alone. It was rare that a runner could stand for himself and give as good as he got. The kid was polite about it too, which was even rarer. The kid bore watching.

Sena knocked on the office door, and waited for a reply. He was really nervous about meeting Marukusu-sama. Marukusu-sama was the head manager of all of the docks. He mainly stayed at Dock A, but he was in charge of all of them. Sena was told to enter by a light baritone. Sena opened the door and stepped in. Behind the desk was a muscular man in his late forties. Light brown hair was cut military-style, and green eyes gazed back at him. All of what the man was wearing was a white T-shirt. Stepping up to the desk, Sena bowed deeply.

"Hello, I'm name is Kobayakawa Sena. I'm a runner from Dock D. I was asked to bring a couple of messages to you by Reuisu-san," Sena said nervously. He straightened from his bow to stand at attention. He was quick to place the messages on the desk in front of Marukusu. The man gave him a pricing look, taking in the bruises and cuts, then turned to look at the messages.

_Marukusu-sama,_

_Knowing Sena-kun, he's already introduced himself. He is a good runner, and over the past week has shown that he can handle all of the docks, with the exception of Dock A. He hasn't been sent to your Dock yet, so feel free to see if he can handle it there._

_I, has well as the others, feel that he is ready to bear the dock brat mark. The second note that Sena-kun has brought is a note for Seberusu-san to mark his wrist. If you decide to test Sena-kun at your dock, wait to give Seberusu-san the note. If not, let Sena-kun bring it to him so he can get it._

_Sena-kun usually goes home around six, so please don't keep him there overly long._

_Reuisu_

Marukusu read the note, and reading between the lines, saw that Reuisu was fond of the kid. Marukusu had to say this for the kid, he was polite. Most of the new runners didn't bow or if they did, it wasn't very deep. Deciding to test the kid through Chirurie, he put the note down and pick up some messages that needed to be sent off.

"Here, take these to Chirurie. Tell him I said that you're to run two of them," he said, handing the notes over to Sena. Sena took them, bowed once more and left. Making his way back to Chirurie-san, Sena mostly ignored the cat calls that some of the workers were yelling at him. Sena knew that they were only doing it to make him flustered. Stopping near Chirurie, Sena continued to pretend that he was deaf. Chirurie looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Marukusu-sama told me to give you these and that I'm to run two of them," Sena said, handing the messages over. Chirurie looked them over, pull out two of them, and handed back to Sena.

"The top message is for Derirafu-san. She'll be on the west side of the dock. She's wearing a purple top. The other note is for Jioruji-san. He'll be on the left side of the dock. Believe me, you can't miss him. Wait for replies, then come back here," Chirurie pointed in the directions were they would be. He had purposely picked two messages on different sides. He wanted to see how well Sena will handle getting to them and getting through the crowded walkways via the other runners that were about. They will tell him how well Sena handled himself in face of the numerous perverts that worked on this dock.

"Hai," Sena bowed, and then took off. He made his way through the crowds, still ignoring the cat calls. He didn't ignore the grabbing hands though. After dodging three hands that were going for his ass, he started lightly smacking them, with a scold that they needed to keep their hands to themselves. He never stopped or slowed down during all of this, even when the workers pouted at him. Which was amusing to the other runners that were passing by him, all going in different directions.

He reached the west side in few minutes, the run not taking long. Looking about, he spotted a female wearing a purple top with a clipboard. He made his way over to her, coming to a halt next to her elbow. When she turned to him, he bowed slightly.

"Hello, I'm looking for Derirafu-san. Might you be she?" Sena asked. The woman was rather pretty, with long pink hair and blue eyes. She was rather well endowed. She was wearing a light purple shirt and pant combo that was finished with dark purple boots. Upon see him, she squealed and glomped him.

"Oh, aren't you just the cutest thing? I'm Derirafu, who might you be sweetie?" she asked, hugging him to her appall chest. Sena's faced turned a deep red color. Carefully moving his head back, looked up at the, as he decide, insane woman.

"My name is Kobayakawa Sena. I have a message for you. Um, could you please let go? I'm having trouble breathing," Sena gasped out. Derirafu let go of him quickly. Taking a couple deep breathes, Sena stepped back, out of her reach. He held out the message to her, ignoring the calls of 'lucky bastard' from the workers around him. Taking the message, Derirafu quickly read through it. Writing a reply on the back of it, she handed it back to him.

"Now, don't be a stranger, Sena-kun. You come back to visit me, ok?" Derirafu said with a perky smile. Sena smile hesitantly back and nodded to her. Bowing, he turned and hastily left. _Insane woman. Are all women that strange?_ Sena thought as the made his way over to the left side of the dock, dodging hands and ignoring cat calls. Finally getting tired of the cat calls, Sena replied to one has he dodged a worker's hand, smacking it lightly.

"That's not your's to touch. I realize that it's hard to resist, but do control yourself. After all, it's not like you could keep up with me anyway," Sena said with a wintery, but polite, smile. The worker in question stared at the still moving teen, before the man burst out laughing, along with all the other workers that heard Sena's reply. The runner that heard Sena's reply snorted, trying to keep from laughing himself.

This continued as Sena moved through crowd the rest of the way. A worker would try to make a pass, Sena would deny him, shooting the worker in question down with a well-placed smack and a verbal set down. Everything Sena did or said was very polite, be it him hitting a hand or him replying to something. Sena never once said anything rudely. It was very entertaining to the workers and the runners that heard and saw him.

Reaching the left side of the dock, Sena glanced about him. Spotting the oddest looking man, Sena suddenly knew what Chirurie-san was talking about. You just couldn't miss Jioruji-san. He was 5' nothing, with no hair on top of his head, but with a mass of brown hair growing from the sides. He had a long beard and was wearing an bright, neon orange jump suit. He looked like Santa on crack.

Blinking a few times to see if his eyesight was failing him, Sena made his way over to the strange man. Coming to a halt near the man, Sena watched as the man moved like he was cat. Twisting in an absurd fashion, Jioruji-san turned to look at him. Sena bowed, and handed the message over to him.

"Message for you, Jioruji-san," Sena said quietly. Jioruji blinked at him, took the message, and turned back around.

"You're new around here," the man observed while he read the note. He had rather high voice for a man.

"Hai, sir. I'm usually on Dock D. Reuisu-san asked me to run some messages up here," Sena replied. He was sidestepping workers when they came to close. He was also giving them looks that said quite clearly "No Touching."

"Hmmm," Jioruji murmured. He wrote a reply and twisting in the same fashion, handed the note back to Sena. Sena bowed, and headed back to Chirurie-san. The way back was the same as the way down. Workers trying to grope him, Sena smacking their hands, and delivering verbal set downs. He was replying to a particularly graphic cat call when he reached Chirurie-san.

"Now why would I want to do that? You look as if you could get a woman all on your own. Why would you need my help, when I'm sure you could pick up a nice, well-paying woman to help you out," Sena said in an overly sweet and polite manner over his shoulder, as he came to a halt in front of Chirurie. Turning to face the older teen before the man could respond, Sena handed the replies to a shock-looking Chirurie.

"You were right, I found Jioruji-san with ease. No offence meant to the woman, I'm sure she's nice and all, but Derirafu-san is kind of weird," Sena said, smiling slightly at the teen. Chirurie coughed into his fist, nodding. Everyone thought that about Derirafu.

"Here, give these to Marukusu-sama. Tell him the top one is from me," Chirurie said. Sena nodded, bowed and headed back to the warehouse. Watching the small teen go, Chirurie couldn't help but think that the other leaders were right. That kid was very unique. The reports that his runners gave him showed him that Sena could not only handle himself but that he had interesting sense of humor. The reply that he himself heard was creative and it let the workers know that Sena wasn't going to put up with their shenanigans. Chirurie decided that he like the kid.

Sena was quick to knock on the office door. Gaining permission to enter, Sena opened the door, came inside, and went to stand in front of the desk. Placing the notes on the deck in front of Marukusu, Sena bowed to the man.

"Chirurie-san said to tell you that the top note is from him," Sena informed him. Inclining his head, Marukusu read Chirurie's report on the kid in front of him. Seeing that the kid could handle himself, even when faced with the kind of people that worked on this dock, Marukusu quickly made his decision. Pulling out Reuisu's second note to Seberusu, he wrote something on it. He then held it out to Sena.

"Take this to the building to the right of this one. Give it to Seberusu, follow his instructions. Then you can head back," Marukusu informed him. Sena could the note with some relief. He couldn't wait to get back to his dock.

"Hai, Marukusu-sama," Sena bowed. Leaving the warehouse, Sena turned right and went into the building there. Looking around the place, Sena thought that he stepped in to a tattoo parlor. There was tables, chairs, pictures of tattoos, and several ink bottles around. Noticing a man in the back area, Sena cleared his throat. The man that came into the front area was tall and willowy. He was wearing all dark green clothes and had long black hair that was pulled into a low pony tail. He had dark eyes and his nose was a little big for his face, giving the impression of a hawk.

"I'm looking for Seberusu-san. I have a message for him from Marukusu-sama," Sena stated. The man nodded, gesturing for him to come forward.

"I'm Seberusu, kid. Take a seat in that chair," motioning for Sena sit in one of the chairs, Seberusu took the note from him. Reading what Marukusu wanted, he went about getting the inks and needles that he needed. Sena, watching him go about doing this, was quick to figure out that he was getting the tattoo of the dock brats. Anticipating what Seberusu-san would tell him to do, he sat with his hands turned down on the chair's arms.

Turning to look at Sena, Seberusu nodded in satisfaction. He didn't need to tell the kid what to do. Pulling up a chair, the man pulled on some rubber gloves. Taking an cotton swap, he cleaned the area that he was going to place the tattoo with alcohol. Normally, Seberusu would shave the area clean as well, but the kid was young enough that the hair on his arms was too fine to cause any trouble. Carefully bracing himself, Seberusu placed the ink gun against Sena's skin.

It hurt when Seberusu-san started to draw the design on him. It really hurt. Sena had to bite his lip to make it start hurting again, so that he had a distraction. As it was his other hand was currently digging his fingers into the chairs arm, curled in the shape of claws. Sena closed his eyes tightly, and began mentally swinging that rope and hook back and forth in his mind; hoping that he could put himself in to a trance-like state for the duration. Quickly achieving what he wanted, Sena remained in the trance until both wrists were done.

Sena had noticed, and asked about, the second tattoo on the dock brats other wrist. Deruku had explained that the second tattoo of the D with tally marks running a cross it showed which dock that particular runner could handle. A red tally make meant Dock D, a green tally meant Dock C, a blue tally meant Dock B, and a yellow tally meant Dock A. Deruku had all four tally marks. All of the leaders did.

Seberusu made fast work of the right wrist, the one that said that he was a dock brat. Glancing up at the kid's face, Seberusu notice the slightly glazed look in those honey brown eyes. _Guess the kid decided to space out until this was over._

Seberusu didn't blame him. The pain of getting your first tattoo was enormous. Cleaning other wrist, Seberusu started on the second D. Ten minutes later, Seberusu finished the final tally and began cleaning up. Waiting for the kid to come back from outer space, the man carefully wrapped the tattoos.

Sena slowly came out of the trance that he put himself in, once he noticed that that the ink gun wasn't going anymore. Blinking a few times, Sena turned to look at Seberusu-san. Nodding that he was indeed done, Seberusu gestured to Sena's wrapped wrists.

"Leave the bandages on for two hours then removed them. The tattoos will scab over, don't pick at them. If they start itching, rub some scentless lotion on them. They'll be completely healed in two weeks. Don't worry about the cost. Marukusu-sama pays for all of the dock brats' tattoos," the tall man informed him. Sena smiled his understanding, getting off the chair. Bowing to the man, Sena took his leave.

"Thank you, Seberusu-san. Bye," Sena said, walking out the door. Seberusu waved, heading back to into the shop. Sena headed towards the dock exit, on his way he said goodbye to Chirurie-san. Waving to the teen, Sena was out of the dock and on his way to his dock. Moving at a quick trot, Sena waved to Jinnifuru-san and Binsentsu-san when he saw them. They both nodded, and smile when they saw the bandages on his wrists. Reaching his dock soon after, Sena headed straight for Deruku.

Deruku had been on the look-out for Sena since he had left. Seeing him come back with his wrists wrapped, Deruku felt a huge rush of relief. He knew that Dock A was full of pervs and that Marukusu-sama could have easily vetoed Reuisu's request to have Sena marked. Deruku was thankful that Sena was ok and that Marukusu-sama agreed to have Sena marked.

"Hi, Deruku-san. I'm back, and boy, I'm I ever glad to be back. Dock A was completely full of perverts," Sena informed the teen, with a completely straight face. Deruku smiled ruefully.

"Yeah, they all are. Most of them are harmless and are just having fun. Others…..well; I don't think that they mean any harm. They're just rather…exuberant," Deruku said, sighing. Sena nodded, in complete agreement. Derirafu-san was totally out of her mind. Those hugs of hers were lethal.

"Anyway, you can head home now. Be sure to not to bang those wrists. It will hurt if you do," Sena smiled up at the teen, and bowed. Grabbing his stuff, Sena quickly made his way home. Going through his workout, Sena couldn't help smile the whole time. He was officially a dock brat.

Finishing, Sena did his cool down stretches, and went inside. Quietly making his way upstairs, Sena took a quick bath, making use to keep the bandages on his wrists dry. He was careful to wear a long sleeved shirt, so his mom wouldn't freak out. Though, he needn't bothered. Turns out, his parents had gone out that nigh to a movie and dinner. Sena shrugged to himself. It made life easier to him.

After eating a hasty dinner, he removed the bandage from his right wrist and admired the elegant looking D. He gently rubbed some lotion on the slightly sore image, before he did the same to his left wrist. When he saw the tally marks, he gasped. He had thought that he would have the Dock D, C, and B tallies. Not only did he have those tallies, but he had Dock A's tally as well. He hadn't' thought that he had done anything to impress Chirurie-san or Marukusu-sama. He thought that they just were being polite.

Laying down, Sena couldn't help but grin happily. He was an official dock brat, and he could go on any of the docks without someone making a fuss. Today was a good day. Sena fell asleep with a smile on his face that stayed there until morning.

~ Whoot! I'm done with the next chapter! Told you all that my muse came back. *Dancing like a demented kid on sugar* I'm in such a good mood. Anywho, please review. Kisses. ~


	4. Going to School

~ Hey, hey, hey. I live! So the muse has come back to me and I'm happily writing. That and I decided that my cat has lost her mind. She is currently attacking the floor and there is nothing there. Lost her mind I tell you! Anyway, so I have to say thank you to all of my reviewers. I'm glad that the third chapter went well. I reposted it, to get rid of the italics at the end. I think it worked; I haven't been able to check. Sorry to confuse you all. No one had any specific concerns, so I'll just say thank you.

Yeah, so, this chapter is a time jump chapter. When Sena finds out if he gets in Deimon and his first day at high school, kind of. I'm not going to give the chapter away, but I think that you'll like the twist that I'm going to put in. Enjoy! ~

***********

**Disclaimer**: ME NO OWN! I HAVE NO MONEY!

**Warning**: Swearing, boy on boy action, and I may decide on some other R rated things later. Not in this chapter but in later chapters. Maybe.

Speaking - "Blah"

Thoughts - _Blah_

Random time jumps and things from me - **Blah**

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Sena awoke before his alarm, as was the norm these days. Having spent the past few summers getting up at four thirty in the morning to head to the docks, Sena was in the habit of getting up early, really early. It was only five. Remembering what today was, he smiled into his pillow. Today he was going to see if he was going to get into high school. Mamori-nee-chan wanted him to get into Deimon with her. His mom had wanted him to try for more then one, so he had taken the entrance exams for Deimon, Ojo, and Shinryuji. He was hoping that he actually got into one of them, really.

Getting up, Sena got dressed in some old sweat pants and a T-shirt. Since he didn't run messages in the mornings due to school, Sena jogged for a couple of hours to keep in shape. Quietly leaving the house, Sena set out at a slow jog. He would do a jog for fifteen minutes; he then would sprint for fifteen minutes. He repeated this cycle, for the next 2 hours, then he headed home to take a quick shower and get dress in some nice clothes to go see what school he got into.

Washing and rinsing his hair and body, Sena stepped out of the shower and toweled himself dry. Tying the towel around his waist, Sena brushed his teeth. Stepping back from the mirror, Sena took the opportunity to examine himself. He really hadn't changed much from when he was in elementary school not in his mind. His hair was still wild looking. His eyes where still big and a honey brown color. He was still short.

However, he had changed in a way that he didn't notice. He had filled out physically. He was no longer a scrawny, easily missed kid; but a lean, muscular, and imposing figure. He had since gained back the six-pack from his karate classes that he had lost. He hair had grown out to his shoulders. If he wished, Sena could easily make his former bullies think twice before attempting to miss with him. He would often fade into the background, though. He didn't like forcing himself on others.

Once he was back in his room, Sena pulled on a light green, button up, long sleeved shirt and a pair of black slacks. Just as he was to put on his dress shoes, Sena felt a trace of impishness. Setting aside the dress shoes, he grabbed the combat boots he wore at the docks. Slipping them on, he made sure to have the pant legs covering them. No need to have Mamori-nee-chan freak out, at least not yet. Taking a moment to grab the papers that had his examine numbers on it, Sena was set to go.

Sena headed downstairs. Spotting Pitt, his black and white kitten, he smiled. His parents had gotten her when his marks had improved as a surprise. He had been asking for a kitten for several months, so he had been thrilled. Picking her up, Sena cuddled her close.

"Wish me luck in getting into high school, ok Pitt?" he whispered to the purring feline. Pitt licked his nose in response. Giggling softly, Sena set her down. After feeding her, he set about getting his own breakfast. Sitting down next to his dad, whom was reading the newspaper, Sena settled to his breakfast of eggs, toast, and milk. His dad looked at him over the newspaper.

"Have a good day and good luck today," Shuma smiled at his son. Sena smiled back in gratitude. Sena was really nervous about getting into a school. He had worked hard to get his grades up. Having the bigger bullies back off helped as well. Sena wasn't really sure why they backed off, but they stopped bothering on that day that they had beaten him up in the alley.

What he didn't know was that while he and Deruku-san headed back to the docks, the other boys had stayed behind to make sure that the bullies knew that Sena was under the dock brats' protection and if they bothered him again, that the dock brats would be there to kick their asses. Sena had been more or less adopted by all of the kids down there after that, to the point where he had started calling them all by the tile of older brother and sister.

Eating quickly, Sena headed out. He had decided to start at Ojo and Shinryuji first, then head to Deimon to meet Mamori-nee-chan. He walked to the bus station. Stepping on to the bus that would take him to Ojo High, he was able to get a seat, as it wasn't crowded. Staring out the window, he thought back to his first day of middle school. He had been really nervous then too.

~**Flashback**~

_Sena took a deep breath and walked into the building of the middle school that he had been accepted to. Looking around, he watched as other kids smiled, laughed and greeted their friends. Smiling sadly to himself, Sena headed to his shoe locker. Taking of his outdoor shoes and slipping on the indoor shoes he found there, Sena headed off to class. Taking a seat, he got out the sketch book that he uses at the dock. _

_He had started a sketch of Deruku and Reuisu-san. The picture was of them talking and laughing. He was shading in Reuisu-san's blue shirt when a shadow fell over the picture. Looking up, Sena saw someone he didn't think that he'd see at school. _

"_Deruku-kun!" The taller teen smiled at him. Sitting in the seat in front of Sena, Deruku faced the surprised dock brat._

"_Hey, Sena-kun. What's up?" Sena blinked. Shaking his head, Sena grinned at the teen. _

"_Nothing much. I didn't know that you went here," he said. "You didn't say anything when I said that I had gotten accepted here." Deruku's eyes were twinkling when he answered. _

"_I wanted to surprise you. I think I managed that, don't you?" Both he and Sena laughed. They continued talking until it was time for Deruku to get to class. Other kids had wandered in by that time. Sena didn't realize that Deruku was a very well known figure in the school. Anyone he was seen with was automatically considered under his 'protection.' By lunch, all the kids and bullies would know that he was off limits for being made a gopher. If he was pressed into being one, and Deruku found out, the consequences would be unpleasant. Not that Sena would let himself become a gopher anymore. _

_*__**End Flashback**_*

Sena smiled at the memory. That had been a good day. He hadn't been harassed at all. He did have some of the other boys come and talk to him. He had made some friends, and had enjoyed being in school for the first time in a long time. He was equally pleased to have one of the bullies, who would have tried to make him a gopher, be turned into a friend.

***Flashback***

_Sena had decided that he would be free of being a gopher this school year. He would stand up to any bully that tried to push him around this year. He didn't have to do so, though. He actually made some friends that year. The bullies that would have tried to make him a gopher the year before, left him alone. _

_Well, sort of. They stood back watching him, instead. They weren't obvious about it, but they watched him to see why Deruku would befriend such a twebie kid. As they watched, the bullies came to know that it wasn't anything that Sena did that made him Deruku's friend, but Sena's personality. The open, cheerful demeanor that Sena displayed and the way he always tried to do his best clued them in to why all the dock brats liked him._

_After weeks of watching the smaller teen hang out with Deruku, and debating, one of the bullies decided during break that he wanted to talk to Sena and see if he couldn't become the kid's friend as well. The bully didn't really have any friends, just some minions that were just scared of him and wanted his protection from other bullies. Deciding to talk to Sena during lunch, the bully turns his attention to the minion that was trying to talk to him. _

_During lunch, Sena headed to the roof. He liked that it wasn't a really popular place to eat. The weather was still cool enough that most of the students would eat in the classrooms. Opening his bento, he began eating. Glancing up as he heard the door open, Sena swallowed the mouthful of rice in his mouth, as a lengthy teen exited the building on to the roof. _

_The teen was one of the bullies that he had identified when school first started. That particular bully was one that was rather scary, in a sense that he had an air about him that said that he could and would beat the shit out of anyone that pissed him off. He was wearing the navy blue school uniform. He was really tall for a middle-schooler, though he was also in the colt stage, where the legs and arms were growing faster then his torso was. The tall bully gave a sort of nervous smile at him and walked over. _

"_Hi. Your Sena right?" the teen asked. Nodding, Sena gestured for the kid to sit next to him. Sitting, the other boy took a couple of deep breathes, and turned dark, anxious eyes to Sena._

"_I know that you don't know me and I know that there's really no reason for you to give a damn about what I say, but I would like to ask you something. Would you consider being my friend?" the black haired boy asked in a deep tenor. When Sena stared at him like he had sprouted horns, he rushed on before Sena could say anything. _

"_Yes, I'm a bully, I know that. Because of that, I don't have any friends really. I have minions and gophers, but no friends. I want to have at least one. I've been watching you for the past few weeks, trying to figure out why Deruku-san was friends with you," he explained, frowning._

"_You're not imposing, nor are you strong. You're just a cheerful kid that really shouldn't have any connection to one of the head dock brats. However, I did find that you are loyal to the friends that you have. You also tell the truth, even if it wasn't what the person asking wanted to hear. I need that around me. I want to be able to ask someone their opinion and not have them tell me what they think I want to hear," the tall boy concluded. Sena smiled slightly in understanding._

"_I understand that. I know that people are confused as to why Deruku-kun talks to me. The reason for that is that I'm a dock brat, myself." Sena grinned at the flabbergasted look on the other boys face. Pushing his sleeve on his right arm up, Sena showed the dock tattoo that marked him a dock brat. _

"_I became a dock brat to stop being a gopher. I was one all through out elementary school, and I didn't "want to be one in my middle and high school years. The problem was that the only way for that to happen was to become either a gang member, which would have been just as bad, or to be a dock brat. I went with being a dock brat," Sena explained to the curious teen._

"_I worked hard become one and I still work hard to win their respect, but I like doing it. Running messages for the managers isn't the same as running errands for bullies. When I run messages, I'm helping make sure that everything gets done when it suppose to. I help the managers know what's going on at the various points at the docks. When I ran errands for bullies, I didn't help anyone. All I did was get food and drinks for kids that didn't need the extra calories."_

"_So, instead of staying the way I was, I went to the one place where I had to work and where the people would accept me on my own terms. Now, you want to do the same. You want an actual friend. Not a gopher or a minion. A friend, the one person you know will be honest with you. On top of that you asked me to, you didn't order me to or tried to scare me into being your friend. That shows me that your serious and because of that, I will be you friend," Sena smiled up at the teen. Smiling back, the teen held out his hand._

"_Hello, my name is Habashira Rui. My hobbies are beating the shit out of people and reading _Sherlock Holmes_," Rui said. Sena laughed as he took Rui's hand._

"_Hi, my name is Kobayakawa Sena. My hobbies are jogging and drawing. Pleased to meet you, Rui-kun."_

_*_**End Flashback***

Deruku-kun had been skeptical when he had found out that Rui-kun had asked to be Sena's friend, but he gave Rui the benefit of the doubt. Deruku had kept watch as the friendship progressed, and after two weeks, decided that Rui really did want to have Sena as his friend. Unknown to Sena, Deruku did take the tall teen aside, and informed him that if Rui hurt Sena, he was going to be put in the hospital. Rui had just nodded and went about his day. He knew that hurting his first friend wasn't agreeable to his health. Rui-kun had already told Sena that he had been accepted into Zokugaku Academy.

Sena came out of his thoughts as the bus came to a halt at his stop. Getting off, Sena made his way to the gate of Ojo High School. Getting directions from a passing student, he headed to the board listing the accepted first year students. Scanning the numbers for his, number 046, he spotted it fairly quickly. Upon seeing that he had been accepted into the prestigious school, Sena's first thought was _'Well damn. Mamori-nee-chan won't like this.' _His next thought was that he needed to catch the bus to Shinryuji.

Sena left quickly, and caught the correct bus to the rather secluded school. It wasn't that he wasn't happy that he got into Ojo, it just hadn't sunk in fully yet. The full impact of the news would probably hit him when he got to Deimon. The ride to Shinryuji past quickly. Standing in at the bottom of the large stair, Sena had only one thought. _'The students here must be in really good shape.'_

Walking up the stairs didn't take very long, so he was able to find the acceptance list quickly. His number, 078, was on this list too. Making a face, Sena quickly left and headed down the stairs to catch the bus to Deimon. That bus ride was a blur really. He didn't remember getting off the bus, or walking the three blocks to the school. He did come out of his daze when he heard his name being called.

"Sena! Over here!" Sena spotted Mamori standing on a bench, waving he hand. Making his way over, he smiled brightly at the older girl. They moved over to the board listing the numbers.

"What's your exam number?" Mamori asked, curiously. Taking the paper with the number out, he looked at it.

"Umm…021," he said, showing her the paper. Looking the board over, they both spotted his number at the same time.

"Look!"

"021!"

Turning to look at each other, Sena and Mamori laughed. Sena looked back up at the board with a smile. The smile faded as he remembered the results of his other exams. Mamori, not noticing, continued happily.

"Well, well. Sena's going to be my under-classman," she smiled. Sena nodded, that was true.

"We haven't gone to the same school since elementary."

"Aren't you glad you get to walk to school with your beautiful childhood friend?" she asked, elbowing him in the side. Wincing, Sena nodded his agreement.

"Oh yeah! I'll get to a school information packet," Mamori exclaimed, dashing off. Blinking at the suddenness of the malodor, Sena realized that he had been left behind.

"Hey, wait up!" he trotted after her. After getting the information packet and ordering his uniform, he and Mamori began walking home. Mamori, finally noticing that Sena wasn't has happy as he should be, inquired what was wrong. Explaining what his mom had wanted and how he had gotten into all three schools, Sena shared his concern that she would be unhappy with his oldest friend. Mamori, however, was quick to shoot down that concern down.

"Oh, Sena! That's wonderful. I'm so proud of you! You should defiantly pick the one you think is best," Mamori said, happily. Sena shook his head at the taller girl. He should have known better then to believe that Mamori-nee-chan would have been upset with him.

"The thing is that I don't know which one I want to be enrolled at. I had wanted to be at school with you, but the other two are really good schools. At this point, I just think I should go to all three," he said somewhat absent-mindedly. He was going through the pros and cons of actually going to three schools at the same time. He was leaning towards going to just Deimon, when Mamori broke his thoughts.

"Well, that would be a challenge, but Sena, that would be away too strenuous for you! You have enough problems with just one set of homework. Nevermind dealing with two more. Just pick one and stick with that one," she scolded. Mamori was still suck in the over-protective big sister mode. Her saying that decided everything for him.

"No worries, Mamori-nee-chan. I won't over burden myself," he assured her. He wasn't going to have any problems with his homework at all. Not with the way he was going to do it.

"Just think it over tonight," Mamori advised him, as she waved good-bye, having reached her turn. After watching her leave, Sena went back to talk to the principals of the schools. After explaining what happened to each of them and what he wanted to do, they had agreed with him wholeheartedly. Making his way home, he smiled in a cheerful and sly smile. It was a rather scary sight on him.

At home, his parents had invited his friends from middle school for a congratulation party for everyone. The party lasted for a few hours and, around eight, everyone was heading home. Before Deruku left, Sena pulled him aside and told him what he did. Deruku laughed, and clapping Sena on his back, said:

"Welcome to the first Ojo, Shinryuji, and Deimon Academy." Sena laughed.

~Voila, chapter 4. I am done, and you are done reading. Please inform me of what you think of the twists. Later! ~


	5. Meeting Hiurma

~So, I have decided to start the next chapter before I posted the one I just finished. Which was at 1: 35am on Saturday, the 5th of December. Right now, though, I don't have internet access. So the next chapter is getting started. Yeah, everything is going so well. Please note the sarcasm. Imagine no fan fictions, no fan art, and not even any googling. Nothing. I want to cry, I really do. I haven't not had internet since I was eight. This is a new and somewhat depressing experience. I am NOT enjoying it.

My family is driving me insane by the way. My eldest sister is getting married on the 19th and everyone is scrabbling around to get everything done. Not pleasant. I think that I'm the only one that isn't. I know that everything will be prefect, without me doing anything. I love my sister but I know that if I tried to help, I would get screamed at and that I would probably have a nervous breakdown. So I'm just going to be there and do as I'm told.

On a happier note, I'm going to be 21 years old soon. On the 19th as a matter of fact. Yes, my sister's wedding and my birthday are on the same day. That day was the only day that was open during the winter, when she wanted it. So my day it was. Oh well, I guess. I will be putting answers to reviews up when I get everything up again. So, I'm sorry if you had questions that haven't been answered. I'll get answers up soon.

Enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Eye-shield 21, its characters, or the idea of it. I've started into the first book now. So you'll recognize the parts from there. I'm going to try to stay true to the manga the best I can. There will be some differences since Sena is far more confident in this story then in the actual manga. And as shown in the last chapter I will be throwing twists in there as well. BUT again I don't own nor am I making money from it.

Speak- "Blah"

Thought_- "Blah"_

Random Things That I'm Doing- **Blah**

When Sena got dress for his first day of school at Deimon, he laughed at the reflection in the mirror. The uniform was way too big. Mamori had gotten it a couple sizes too big. He did know that he would grow but he had to laugh at himself. He looked like he was a little kid that was wearing his dad's suit.

Grabbing the cell phone that his parents had gotten him as he left, he smiled at the fact that where at one point he would have had only Mamori-nee-chan in is phone book, he had several of the dock brats numbers in it. He had orders to call them after school. Just to tell them how it went. They were really overprotective of him, which he found rather amusing.

As he walked to school he heard someone calling good morning. Turning, he saw Mamori-nee-chan waving at him.

"Hey, that's too loose," she said, tightening his tie. He wasn't a big fan of them, so he had just put it on haphazardly. Mamori looked him over.

"Sena…this time you've gotta make some friends."

"Hey, I have friends!" he protested, think of the dock brats.

"You can't call them you friends! You were just their gopher!" Mamori cried. Sena then remembered that he hadn't told her that he had left behind being a gopher. As he was about to explain about it, Mamori pointed out something.

"Hey! Why don't you join a club?" she asked. "You can't be so passive! If you join a club, you'll even get to talk to upperclassmen…"

"I'm not a little kid, you know!" Sena grumbled, irritably.

"Oh! But there_** IS**_ this one guy!" she held out a hand to stop him. "His name is _**Hiruma**_…really, he's such a demonic guy that once he sets his sights on you…he'll suck you dry to the bone before he's through." Mamori wasn't someone to exaggerate about things, but Sena was pretty sure that she had a somewhat distorted view of this boy.

"What was his name? Hiruma?" he asked. Everyone that was around him completely wigged out. When one of the students grabbed him, Sena took off toward the school. He was easily startled still.

In class, when he introduced himself, he noted the possible bullies in his class. Three of the buffer boys were eyeing him, trying to see if he was an easy pick. He did try to portray a confident personality. He didn't know if he succeeded or not just yet. During break he received a text for Mamori. _If anyone tries to make you their gopher, say you'll rock-paper-scissors them for it!_

"I told her… I'm not a little kid anymore." At lunch, he was stopped by the three bullies on his way to the roof to eat. Sena sighed, exasperated.

"Hello Sena-kun, my name is Juumonji Kazuki. Pleased to meet you," the tall blond with a scar on his cheek said, Sena assumed he was the leader of the boys.

"I'm Toganou Shouzou, I'm sure we'll be good friends," the blond with orange glasses said.

"I'm Kuroki Kouji, I believe that we are friends now," said the final boy, a brunette. They all leaned in a bit.

"So, Sena-kun, how about you go and buy us some bread?" Juumonji asked him. Sena, making sure that his sleeves were higher up, crossed his arms. The motion caused the sleeves to ride up further, displaying the tattoos marking him a dock brat.

"As nice as that would be, I'm going to have to decline," he said, as they took in the tattoos. Moving through them, he headed up to the roof. Settling down next to the front fence, he opened up his bento. Hearing the door open, he glanced up. Upon spotting Juumonji, Toganou, and Kuroki, he gave an annoyed sigh.

As they sat down around him, Sena noted that they were a little wary of him. _Good, maybe this won't go to hell_. Juumonji shifted nervously, and then he cleared his throat. Turning to look at him, Sena raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"I, well we, know what those tattoos mean. We know that if we kick your ass, if we even could, we would get our asses kick by the other dock brats," Sena had to smile in amusement. It was true. "What I want to know is if you're going to try to be the head bully in the school. Because even though most bullies will give way to you, there is one that nobody can top. His name is Hiruma and I've heard that he is the one person you do not want to cross." Sena laughed.

"No, I don't want to be the head bully. All I want to do is to be left alone by the bullies at my schools. Yes, I said schools. I was accepted into three schools, Deimon being only one of them. I'm going to Deimon as my main school, where I'm physically here. I will be picking up the homework from the others after school is done." Sena gave a half-smile. "I've heard about Hiruma-san. It's hardly a surprising thing. There is always at least one that shouldn't be crossed. I'm not planning on crossing him, nor am I planning on even being a bully," Sena concluded. The other boys glanced at each other, and then nodded.

"Alright, I get that," Toganou said. "But why did you decided to go to all three instead of just picking one?" Sena smiled ruefully.

"Well, actually I have a childhood friend that was my protector. She was proud that I had gotten into three schools, but she's still sticking to the impression that I still need protection. She said to just pick one so that I don't strain myself," he explained. "I decided to do all three, as a rebellion really. I love her like a sister, but I'm tired of being protected." The other boys nodded in understanding. Shortly there after, they left him to his lunch. Quickly eating, Sena headed back to class.

Upon finishing his last class, after asking Juumonji where Hiruma could be found, Sena headed towards the American football clubhouse. He had decided to go meet this Hiruma and decided for himself how bad the other boy really is. Sena wasn't one to have others make up his mind for him.

Sena noticed when he reached the clubhouse that there was a dog chained next to the building. Crouching down near the dog, he held out a fist for the animal to smell. The dog, having watched him walk up, growled in warning. Sena didn't make any large or threatening movements. He just continued to hold out his fist for the dog to smell.

Eyeing the teen with mistrust, the dog hesitantly lifted its head and sniffed the fist in front of him. When nothing bad happened, the dog came forward a little ways. Taking that as permission, Sena slowly uncurled his hand and gently patted the dog's head. The dog gave a little huff of approval, and laid down. Sena sent a small smile towards the dog, then stood. Moving to the door, he heard voices talking inside. Raising his hand, he knocked. The voices stopped, then he heard someone telling him to enter.

Sena slid the door open to reveal a rather messy room and two boys. The larger of the two was indeed larger. He was 6'4 and was 300 lbs at minimum. He was wearing the school uniform of the black pants, white shirt, and green blazer. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and a very friendly smile. He gave a little wave towards Sena as the other boy turned his body to face Sena.

The other boy, whom Sena assumed was Hiruma, was taller then Sena as well; somewhere around 5'9. He was lean and muscular. He was also wearing the school uniform. He had blonde hair, green eyes, and his ears were pointed. His ears were also pierced with two earrings in each ear. The most noticeable thing about him was his aura of control. This was a boy who was always in control. The second most noticeable thing about that he was holding a gun with the ease of a person that used guns regularly.

"Did you need something, damn chibi-kun?" Hiruma asked, blowing a bubble with his gum. Sena smiled, amused at the nickname. Bowing slightly, he introduced himself.

"Excuse me for intruding. My name is Kobayakawa Sena. I was looking for someone named Hiruma. Is he here?" Sena inquired politely. The two boys blinked in surprise. No one came looking for Hiruma, ever. He came looking for them. Sharing a glance with Hiruma, the brunette stood up and bowed.

"Hello Sena-kun. My name is Kurita Ryokan. Pleased to meet you. I play the position of linebacker on the American Football Team. This -," he gestured to Hiruma. "is Hiruma Yoichi. He's the quarterback."

"Why were you looking for me, damn chibi-kun?" Hiruma inquired. Sena shrugged.

"I wanted to see if you are as bad as the rumors say. My nee-san was rather….passionate in her warning about you," Sena smiled. The smile Hiruma sent in return was little on the scary side. Suppressing a shudder, Sena looked around the clubhouse. It was in a depressing state. Everything was thrown everywhere. It looked like no one bothered to pick anything up.

"Hmm, well yes, I am as bad as they say. Possibly worse. Why do you want to know?" Hiruma snarled. Sena waved a hand distractedly.

"No reason really. I was warned not to go near you by four different people and I don't make presumptions based on what other people say, so I wanted to check for myself," Sena admitted, noting that there was what looked to be a set of bongos in the corner.

"Well, now you know, I'm sure that you have other things to do and I know that I do," Hiruma said, shoving Sena out the door.

"You're right, of course. Nice to meet you, Hiruma-san. Kurita-san," Sena called over his shoulder. The door snapped shut behind him. _Odd boy. Kind of cute though. Still don't see what the big deal is. _Sena shook his head. He went off to get his other home work. Quickly getting everything he needed from the schools, he headed home. Arriving home before his parents, Sena set about getting his homework done. As he started on his math work, he pulled out his phone and dialed up Deruku-san. Bopping his head in time with the ring back tone, Sena waited for the older dock brat to pick up.

"_Deruku." _

"Hi, Deruku-san. What's up?" Sena chirped, happily.

"_Sena-kun! I was waiting for your call. How was it at Deimon? Anyone bother you at all?" _Deruku exclaimed. Sena had to pull the phone back from his ear. The shout was too loud. Slowly placing the phone back on his ear, Sena answered.

"Deimon was great. No one bothered me really. There were three boys that tried, however they saw my tats and decided to leave me alone. They did warn me about the head bully in the school and I went to see him for myself. He was a little scary but I didn't, and still don't, see what the big deal is with him."

"_Oh? What's his name?"_ Deruku asked.

"Hiruma. Oh, I forgot to ask. Did you have any errands that needed to be run? I'm going out after I finish my homework," Sena asked. Usually Deruku was to busy to get any errands done, and Sena never had a problem with getting things for him. Deruku always paid him back.

"_Yeah, I need to get milk, eggs, and some aspirin. As for Hiruma, just stay off his bad side and you should be fine. He likes getting blackmail about the people around him, and about the people that can help him with things. I do know that he has blackmail on almost everyone in Deimon, so be careful in your interactions with him," _Deruku warned. Sena smiled slightly.

"Will do. Don't worry so much, Deruku-san. I'll be fine. See you in a little while. Bye."

"_Bye."_

Sena hung up and finished his homework. Changing his clothes to a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, but putting his combat boots on instead of sneakers, Sena head out to the convenience store. Once there, he got Deruku's things and grabbed some snacks for himself. As he waited to pay for his things, he saw Hiruma enter the store. Figuring that he was getting some stuff, Sena stepped up to the register and paid.

Stepping out of the store, Sena saw three guys with his school uniform on. Recognizing Juumonji, Toganou, and Kuroki, Sena wandered over to them. Nodding hello to them, Sena looked to see what Toganou was reading. Seeing that it the new issue of _Sho Jump_, he perked up some.

"Does anything happen in the next Devil Take Me?" Sena inquired. Glancing up at him, Toganou slowly nodded. (A/N: I so totally made that up. If there is a manga or book named that, I DO NOT own it, the characters, or the rights to it.)

"Yeah, though I won't ruin it for you." Sena smiled in agreement. Pulling out his phone to see the time, Sena winced. He was going to miss the train he needed to take if he didn't move. Waving goodbye to the trio, Sena got into his running stance. He waited a heartbeat, then took off. Weaving through the crowd with ease, he made to the train station as the bell rang. Dashing down the stairs, he sprung off the bottom stair and barely squeezed through the closing door.

Coming to a rest on the floor, Sena caught his breath and stood up. He straightened his clothes and sat in an empty seat. After checking that nothing broke, he gazed out the window. Not really thinking about anything, he watched the skyline and the buildings wiz by. Noting that the train was coming to his stop, Sena stood and went to the door. Exiting, he headed to the corner where he met Deruku. Deruku was already waiting there for him. Sena trotted up to him and handed him his bag.

"Sorry I took so long. I saw some boys from school and stopped to talk to them," Sena apologized cheerful. Waving the apology aside, Deruku looked in the bag and pulled the aspirin out. Popping the lid off, he poured four tablets out onto his hand. Sena reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of water. Sena twisted the top off and handed it to Deruku. Washing the tablets down, Deruku rub his temple then his eyes.

"Head home, Deruku-san. You look tired. You can pay me tomorrow. I'll see you later, okay?" Sena asked, noting that Deruku looked exhausted. Deruku nodded and waved goodbye. Sena waved back, and then turned around. Heading back the way he came, he nodded to the workers and suits that he past. Catching the appropriate train back, he was home fifteen minutes later.

He grabbed the mail on his way in. Flipping through it, he noticed a flyer for the American football team at his school. There was several actually. Smiling slightly, he pulled out his phone. He quickly scrolled down to the number that he wanted and pressed send. As he waited, he read the flyer. It was rather well done. The phone was answered just then.

"_Talk to me,"_ was the short greeting.

"So, how mad would you be if I joined the Deimon American football team?" Sena asked, off handedly. There was a short pause.

"_And why would you want to know that?"_

"Because, Rui-kun, I was thinking of joining. After all, I need to do something with my free time. My other schools have really good teams already, and don't need anymore players to sit on the bench. Besides, the captain of the team is kinda cute," Sena said slyly. Rui knew that he was interested in guys. Sena knew that Rui really hated the Deimon football captain with a passion.

"_I think that I may be sick. Putting that disturbing thought aside for the moment, it will be fine if you join the team. As long as he doesn't do anything to you, then it is fine. I won't go easy on you in a game, though," _Rui warned him. Sena smiled broadly. He was very happy. Not only did he get the chance to play in a sport, but he didn't make a friend angry doing so.

"I wouldn't expect anything less. I won't go easy on you either," Sena said.

"_Going back to the disturbing thought, why on kami's green earth would you think that he's attractive?" _Rui exclaimed. Sena smirked.

"Well, you see I like blondes. I like piercings. He's has both. And he's very to the point. Besides he is very interesting. I like interesting," Sena explained. Rui sighed loudly.

"_Alright, whatever floats your boat. But if he hurts you, I will put him in a coma."_

"Yes I know. Anyway, I will talk to you later. I will have to get up early so that I can get to my other schools and let them know that I'm in a sport. Bye," Sena said.

"_Later."_

After Sena ate dinner, showered, and got ready for bed, he played with Pitt for a while. He liked to spend as much time with her as he could so that she didn't feel neglected. Laying down on his bed, Sena was asleep before he realized it.

After making sure that Ojo and Shinryuji knew that he was going to join a team at Deimon, and dropping off the appropriate home work, Sena headed over to Deimon. He arrived early so that he could get to football practice on time. Walking around the corner, he came to a stop. There, standing in the middle of the walkway, was Hiruma. A very demonic looking, carrying a full automatic gun, grinning Hiruma. Not something you want to see first thing in the morning.

Taking a deep breath, Sena stood tall and continued walking towards him. Coming to a stand in front of the scary upperclassman, Sena looked him in the eye for a while. Long enough that Hiruma knew that this underclassman wouldn't be intimidated. Hiruma got the feeling that Sena was around scary people all the time and wasn't going to take any of his usual tricks lying down. He would have to think of another way to get the chibi on the team. Sena then bowed politely.

"Good morning, Hiruma-san. I was just on my way to see you. I want to join the team, if you don't mind," Sena greeted. Hiruma couldn't believe his ears. The chibi had just his day. Not only did he get a running back, but he didn't even have to do anything to do it! As soon as he saw the kid take off through the crowd, making sharp cuts and flying through the train doors, he knew that he wanted the kid on the team. And know he was getting him, without any blackmail or threats!

"Well, damn chibi-kun, I was going to…._persuade_ you to join the team, but if you're willing to join on your own, it saves me some work," Hiruma smirked. Sena raised an eyebrow that the tone Hiruma had taken in the middle of that sentence, but let it go.

They started walking to the clubhouse. Hiruma walked with a rather relaxed stance but he was alert to everything around him. Including the kid next to him. Making little mental notes, Hiruma had to wonder what the chibi was like when he was younger. Sena was relaxed as well, but he walked with a cat-like grace that only came from being comfortable in his body. Sena knew who and what he was, and he never doubted it.

When they reached the clubhouse, Hiruma threw the door open. Kurita looked up from the paper he was reading. He gazed at a calm Sena in confusion. Turning his eyes to Hiruma, he noted the really pleased grin on his face. Kurita wasn't really sure what to make of it.

"Damn chibi-kun wants to join the team," Hiruma announced. Kurita blinked in surprise then smiled gleefully.

"Really? Wow! That's great!" Kurita exclaimed. Sena smiled and bowed slightly.

"I'm looking forward to playing with you. I do have to ask that we keep my involvement as a player a secret. My nee-san is very overprotective, and warned me away from Hiruma-san. She would have a fit if she thought I was actually in the game," Sena cautioned. Hiruma raised an eyebrow.

"Really? And who, may I ask, is your 'nee-san?'"

"Anezaki Mamori. She's been my friend since we were really small. I wasn't the bravest of kids and our parents are friends," Sena explained. Hiruma snorted irritably. That girl was on the disciplinary committee, and was his biggest pain in the ass. He could easily see her throwing a fit about the chibi playing.

"No problem, chibi-kun," Hiruma said, rummaging around. Pulling out protective pads and gear, he motion Sena to put them on. While Sena pulled the equipment on, Hiruma continued to scrounge around in the mess. Making a little 'ya-ha' noise, he withdrew a jersey. He threw it at Sena and looked around a little longer. Spotting what he wanted, he grabbed a helmet with an eyeshield on it. Straightening, he turned to Sena was rather surprised that the kid was far more muscular then he had thought. Handing the helmet over, Hiruma took in the final product.

"Number 21! And the eyeshield looks good!" Kurita said happily.

"We'll keep your identity a secret during games. Otherwise all the schools will be after you, eh?" Hiruma said. Sena ignored the last part, knowing he will have to explain about his other schools soon.

Sena looked down at himself. The equipment and jersey fit well and the eyeshield hid his face. It was perfect. He grinned happily. Thinking about how he could still work with the team while not in uniform, Sena remember something from the flyer he read last night.

"Hey, you guys are recruiting for managers as well, right?" he asked. Kurita nodded, slightly confused. Hiruma saw were he was going with it. He smirked.

"So to everyone else, I'm your manager. I'll play on the team, and manage it," Sena said.

"During games you aren't to use you own name, Kobayakawa Sena, got it?" Hiruma ordered more then asked. "Your codename will be….EYESHIELD 21!"

Grinning, Sena join the two older players in celebrating. Soon after it was time for school. Changing back in to his school uniform, Sena wave goodbye to the older boys. Seeing that he had some time left before he needed to be in class, Sena headed to the library. He quickly found an open computer and got on the internet once there. Typing rapidly, he looked up the tournament brackets for the Tokyo games. Finding it, he printed off a couple of copies. Noting the date for their first game, Sena realized that he had some work to do. Their first game was the day after tomorrow and they didn't have any other players besides themselves.

Shoving the papers in his bag, Sena headed to class still puzzling what he should do. Sitting down, he pulled out a piece of paper and began making a list of things that needed to be done before the game. Recruiting some other players was number one. Getting a profile on the other teams was next. Thinking, Sena half-listen to some girls gossip about the basketball team. Girls….of course, girls! Any good team has cheerleaders. That was number three. Cleaning that damn clubroom was number four. Sena saw some mold actually move earlier, so cleaning had to happen.

Looking down at his short list, Sena nodded. Those four things were enough for now. Stowing it in his bag, Sena pulled out his books as the teacher walked in. The day passed quickly. As lunch rolled around, Sena had a wild thought process about the cheerleaders. He grinned. It must have been a scary one, since the people near him backed away rather quickly. Grabbing his lunch and pulling out his phone, he headed up to the roof. He called all of the girl dock brats in his phone. Asking all of them to come to the game and cheer for his team. The answer made him laugh. It was a unanimous yes!

Hanging up, Sena noticed that Juumonji and his friends had joined him. He smiled in welcome. They ate silently for a while. Kuroki, unable to take the silence anymore, blurted out the first quest that popped in his head.

"What were you smiling about in class? It was kinda scary," Kuroki added. Sena chuckled.

"I had idea about how to get some cheerleaders for the team I'm on. I joined the American football team," Sena explained. "I'm the manager and that's one of the things that I needed to do."

"Isn't that Hiruma's team?" Juumonji frowned. Sena nodded.

"Yeah, I went to go see what was so scary about him for myself. In appearance, yes, he's a little scary, but he wasn't all that bad to me," Sena shrugged. Shaking their heads, the trio went back to their lunch. Finishing, the four boys went back down to the classroom. As they walked, Sena noticed that the trio was given space by the other students. He knew that they were strong and that they fought often, so this wasn't surprising. He knew that bullies were often angry and use fights as an outlet. He just wished that they could find other outlets like a sport or something. Wait…

Sena smiled, looking remarkably like Hiruma. As they had just entered the classroom, there was a collective shudder around the room. The trio frowned in confusion and looked at him. He just smiled sweetly at them. Shrugging it off, they went to their seats while Sena went to his. The rest of their classes past quickly. Shoving his books into his bag, Sena hurried after the hopefully-soon-to-be-former bullies.

"Hey! I have an idea. Why don't you guys join the football team?" Sena asked and quickly explained be fore they protected. "We need more players, and the game is violent. Think about it. You can basically fight and beat people up without getting in trouble for it!"

The boys looked at eachother, then looked at Sena's earnest face. Sena's earnest face with full blown puppy dog eyes. And as he had learn done at the docks, no one, not even up tight Marukusu-sama, could reset the puppy eyes. As proven when all three of them caved at the same time.

"Alright," they sighed in unison. Sena bestowed them with a brilliant, beaming smile.

"Thank you! So much! It will be great. The game is the day after tomorrow, okay?"

The boys nodded in agreement. Still beaming happily, Sena waved goodbye and went to get his other homework. Pausing to change into his work 'uniform,' Sena was finally comfortable. The school uniform didn't provide much in the way of cooling. He was very cheerful through the whole time he was at Ojo, but the happiness was driven away at Shinryuji.

He got there with no problem, and he got his homework with very little issue. As he was leaving, some bored upperclassmen decided that he would bring them entertainment. They quickly moved and blocked his way to the stairs and the way back to the school building. Sena blinking rapidly in surprise, realized something. Bullies really were stupid! Really, they were. He was basically wearing a sign that he was a dock brat and they totally ignored it!

"I've haven't seen you here before. I'm guessing you're a freshman. Well, all freshmen have to pay homage to the upperclassmen," sneered a tall brunette that appeared to be the leader of the six boys surrounding him. Sena raised his eyebrows that the obvious play for dominance.

"Somehow, I rather doubt that. Just because you're older and taller doesn't mean that you're all powerful," Sena stated shortly. "Why don't you go pick on someone that will be believe your heavy-handed attempts at dominance?"

Blinking rapidly at the unexpected response to their bullying, the leader reacted in the only way that he thought would work: complete violence. Throwing a punch at Sena's face, he expected the kid to take the hit and go down crying. Instead, what happened was the exact opposite.

Sena brought his arm up, blocking the hit, and using the momentum, knocking off to the side. Combining it with a upper cut to the stomach, the bully was on the ground gasping for air in less time it took for them to say 'shit.' There was a moment of shock, the bullies staring at their fallen leader. Then they all went after the little freshman that dared to stand up to them. At that moment, Sena went into action. Throwing punches, kicks, blocks, and in one case, an actual bully into another one. The fight didn't take long; five minutes at most. At the end of it, Sena was standing and the bullies were groaning on the ground.

As Sena was getting ready to leave, he was hailed by a tall kid with short dread locks. Wearing sunglasses, and the school's uniform of a black shirt, pants, and a golden brown over gai, the kid was very muscular and a little frightening. Not like Hiruma, who wore his scariness like a coat, but in a subtle I-am-unstable-and-might-snap-any-moment kind of way. Surprisingly, Sena was reminded of one of Dock A's workers, Larry-san. Behind him was a group of boys carrying football gear.

"Nicely done, trash. Now, why don't you tell me what school you belong to? So I can send your pieces back?" the boy smiled sadistically. Sena narrowed his eyes.

"I go to this school. I also go to two others. I was accepted into three schools and was getting my homework. Now if you'll excuse me, I have places to be," Sena said coldly. Even polite Sena has his limits. The boy stared at him like he was a piece of trash, while the group of boys behind him stared at him with horror. Turning away, Sena started towards the stairs. Only to have his left wrist grasped in a bruising hold. The older boy jerked him back towards him. Sena looked back at him with a cold gaze.

"Look, I'm sorry if those boys were your friends, but they asked for that beating. I will not apologize for it, nor will I be intimidated by you. Release me right now," Sena stated firmly and coldly. The other boy snorted.

"Or you'll do what? Hit me? I think not. I doubt you could take me down, even if you had an army," he sneered. Sena reached down and grasped the hand that had a hold of his own, staring straight into the boy's eyes. He then made sure that as he squeezed, his nails dug into a pressure point between the tendons. As the hold loosened in surprise and pain, he pulled his wrist free. Still grasping the other boy's wrist, Sena raised their arms up. Holding the angry stare, he displayed the tattoo on his wrist. The boy's eyes widened.

"I have an army that will come to my aid if needed. And I _know_ that we could take you down. Possibly with some trouble, but you would go down. I dislike bullies. I dislike them a great deal. Don't give me a reason to make that call," Sena said quietly. Gaining a slight nod, he released the older boy. Stepping away, Sena bowed to the group as a whole. Once again turning to leave, Sena was very irritated to be asked to wait.

"My name is Agon. What's yours?" Agon asked in a neutral tone. It's one thing to beat a weak looking kid up on principal, but it was another to have one that didn't give a shit if he was strong. One that was strong in body and mind. Agon knew some dock brats, and he was very well aware what kind of power and back up they could call in a moment's notice. Plus, the kid was interesting.

"Kobayakawa Sena. I'm leaving now," Sena said shortly. Quickly making his way down the stairs before anyone else could stop him; Sena breathed a sigh of relief once he was on the bus. Damn if he knew why that boy unnerved him, but he wasn't going to talk to him again if he could help it! That was just annoying. Plus his wrist throbbed like no other. Pulling out the roll of bandages that he always carried with him, he rapped his wrist tightly. He sighed once he was done. He gazed out the window in thought.

Sena came to a quick conclusion. Agon was very scary and was to be ignored at all costs. Nodding to himself, Sena chose to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach that ignoring Agon wasn't going to be easy. Sena turned his thoughts to the night ahead. He had promised Deruku that he would help out tonight. Maybe he could talk the girls into wearing some cheer uniforms. You never know, they might do it.

~Done! I am quiet pleased with myself. The chapter didn't turn out all that badly if I do say so. Now, reviews for me? Please? ~


	6. First Game

~New chapter! New chapter! Yay! I'm on a roll. Of course, the lack of internet might have something to do with it. I've had to go to the pubic library to check my email. Do you know how irritating that is? There's a time limit on how long I can be on the computer. It gives me enough time to get rid of the junk mail, and look at my reviews. That's it! Yeah, ok if I check my email every day, it would be less and I would have time to look at other stuff. Who has the time to check it everyday? Well, those people that live via their email, but I'm not one of them and I got to work.

I'm sorry that it has taken so long, but at least I get time to write, right? Anyway, my life sucks at the moment. I had to give up my nice shiny cell phone for a non-shiny cell phone, because my sister shut my phone off. We had a little disagreement over the cell phone bill, and off it went. I pay my part of the bill, always have. I've even paid my brother's part for a good year. I may not pay it directly on the day it's due, but it is paid. Does she care? No, of course not. Let's yell at the person that always pays the bill, and when she yells back, turn the phone off. Nice huh?

Let's not forget to tattle to Mom while we're at it. I was with my friend at the time and when my phone was turned off, she texted my sister to yell at her. My mom called me via her phone and told me off for yelling at my sister when she's so stressed. Told me to call her back later that night. I didn't call her back. Needless to say, I'm not talking either of them. Of course if they actually had my new number they might be able to talk to me. Oh well. I'm on my fiancé's phone plan now. She could turn my old phone on and I won't owe her a dime. I'm pleased.

Sorry, ranting over. I will be following the plot and the storyline, but there will be things that I will be taking creative license to. I will be paraphrasing the characters dialogue as well. So not everything will match up. Anywho, enjoy the story. ~

Disclaimer: ME NO OWN! ME NO MONEY! ANYTHING IN HERE YOU RECOGNIZE FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE? DON'T OWN IT! I AM IN THE FIRST BOOK NOW SO YOU WILL SEE PARTS FROM THE MANGA! I DON'T OWN IT!

Speech- "Blah"

Thoughts- _Blah_

Random Stuff That I'm Doing – **Blah**

That morning Sena was in an excellent mood. He had talked the girls into where the cheerleader uniforms last night. When the other dock brats came over, wondering what was going on, he told them about being the manager and a player. He warned them not to tell anyone, since he didn't want a mob after him. He also stated that he might not play in the first game, since the team they were going against wasn't a good team. He would most likely be put in the second game. They promised not to say anything.

Sena didn't know that they didn't really keep that promise, in a sense. They told Reuisu-san and the other dock brats. Reuisu told the other managers and Marukusu. Everyone was warned that Sena's real involvement was to be kept a secret, but everyone decided that they would be at his games. They would support their 'little wolf' as they called him amongst themselves.

However, when they saw his wrist, everyone threw a complete fit. Sena had to run interference so that there wasn't a mass of angry dock brats going off to kill someone. It took over an hour to get them calmed down. He told them that he had taken care of the problem; that there was no reason to go off the deep end. Sena knew that the only reason that he got them calmed was that he had promised to tell them when he was in trouble. He really didn't want to know what they would do if he was hurt worse then a bruised wrist.

Sena came out of his thoughts when he heard his name being called. Looking back he saw Mamori-nee-chan trotting down the road. Waiting for her to catch up, Sena smiled up at her.

"Morning, Mamori-nee-chan. What's up?" Sena asked. Mamori smiled.

"I have a meeting at school this morning. So have you made any friends? Joined any clubs?" Mamori asked anxiously. She was worried that Sena had been made a gopher again.

"I made a lot of friends and no they don't want me as a gopher. I also joined a club. The American Football Team," Sena said cheerfully.

"The football team!" Mamori asked. Sena nodded.

"Kurita's a really great guy! Hiruma isn't all that bad either," he said calmly.

"But I told you to stay away from that guy!" Mamori said, worried. "And football is… It's too dangerous! Don't do it! Sena—you're slight, you're delicate, you're frail—you're just weak!"

"That's harsh," Sena commented in exasperation.

"You be sure to tell me if they make you do anything dangerous!" she demanded.

"Hey, relax. I'm not a player. I'm just the manager," Sena soothed.

"Oh, that's a relief," Mamori sighed out. "Wait… Then why are you going to school so early?"

"Administrative staff meeting."

Reassured that Sena wasn't going to be hurt, Mamori moved on to idle chitchat. They separated once they reached the school. Mamori went inside, Sena went to the clubhouse. Hiruma was waiting for him there.

"Ready to start, damn chibi-kun?" Hiruma drawled. He was slightly pushing the kid. He wanted to see if he would freak out about his name or not. Hiruma needed to know how far he could push the little brunette.

"I'm ready, Hiruma-san," Sena replied, not caring about the nickname. Walking past the taller boy, Sena went to go get his gear on. He quickly changed. Once ready, Sena and Hiruma headed down to the field. Hiruma glanced at Sena out of the corner of his eye as they walked. When he noticed the bandage on the younger teen's wrist, he came to a stop. Sena walked on a couple of steps before he realized that the blonde teen had halted.

"What's wrong?" Sena asked as he turned to look at Hiruma. The older teen gestured to the smaller teen's hand.

"What happened to your wrist?" Hiruma snapped out angrily. Sena noted a very faint amount of concern hidden within that anger.

"Oh, it's alright. I had a minor run in with a bully from another school. It's just bruised," Sena explained vaguely. "It should be fine in a couple of days." Hiruma narrowed his eyes at the brunette. Hiruma wasn't quite sure he trusted or believed Sena's excuse.

"Who was it?" the older boy asked casually. The look that he received from Sena was of amused condescending. Sena considered Hiruma for a few moments, and then rolled his eyes.

"It was Kongo Agon from Shinryuji," Sena said, shrugging. He had looked up Agon on the internet that morning. The football article that he had read said that Agon was a genesis in all things academic and sports related. It said that he was the best player on the Shinryuji football team.

He had also did a brief search with Kurita's and Hiruma's names. Kurita's name came up with the connection of going to the school and trying for the team. Sena assumed that because the friendly boy wasn't there anymore, Kurita wasn't chosen for the team. Not surprisingly, Hiruma's name didn't pull up anything.

"Say that again," Hiruma exclaimed. Sena blinked, surprised at the controlled anger in the teen's voice.

"Huh. I would have thought that you'd know already," Sena said in great amusement. "I'm going to three schools. Shinryuji is one of the other two that I go to. Ojo is the other. I went to get my homework and afterward I was approached by a group of teens. I dealt with them and Agon-san decided to take exception to me doing so. He grabbed my wrist." Sena waved a hand, dismissing the entire incident. He hadn't thought that Hiruma would have been that upset over such a little thing.

"If damn dreads had decided that he didn't like you, he would have beaten the shit out of you," Hiruma said rather bluntly. "How did you get out of a confrontation with Agon, with only a bruised wrist?"

"I expressed my displeasure with him grabbing me," Sena smiled coldly. He started walking to the field once again. As far as he was concern, the conversation was over. Hiruma followed, not liking how it ended, but excepting it for now. Kurita was already on the field practicing when the duo arrived.

"You're here early," Hiruma commented.

"Good morning," Kurita greeted. "I was so excited that I woke up early. I been here since 2 a.m."

"He's a bit dim," Hiruma said off handedly to Sena. Sena decided not to comment. Ignoring the now arguing pair in favor of looking around, Sena surveyed the equipment. Seeing a rope ladder on the ground, he went to look at it. Remembering something Rui-kun had said, he placed one foot in a space. He crossed one leg over the other and back. Repeating the same process back the other direction, he began doing the appropriate exercise.

"You know some of the training techniques," Hiruma spoke up behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Sena gave a half smile.

"One of my friends loves football. I practice with him sometimes," he explained. He stopped doing the exercise and turned to face his captain. Gesturing him to follow, Hiruma started to walk down the field.

"Let's go teach the rookie some more basics." Kurita waved a hand.

"My neck is killing me. I think I'll just do the 40-yard dash and be done," he said, cracking his neck. Hiruma nodded in agreement.

"We haven't done a 40 in a while," he said, pulling a stopwatch out of nowhere. "I'll time you."

Sena had a moment to wonder when the definition of 'I'll time you' changed to 'Sena will time you' as Hiruma handed him the stopwatch. He vaguely heard Kurita say something about a single practice to Hiruma.

"The average guy can do the dash in five or six seconds," Hiruma explained absent mindedly, watching Kurita set up some cones. "Five seconds is the wall between a sprinter and an ordinary guy. For a guy in high school to be an ace, he would need to go 4.8 seconds. The current record is 4.4 seconds set by a guy named Shin, but he's a freak."

"Okay," Kurita called to them, waving his arms. Sena moved off to the side so that he wouldn't be in the way.

"Ready, set" Hiruma called, a bazooka suddenly on his shoulder. BOOM! Kurita started running. Sena stopped the watch when the friendly boy passed him.

"Time?" Hiruma asked, looking over his shoulder. The watch read 6.5 seconds. Sena glanced at Hiruma. The blonde boy was not happy. He knocked Kurita on the grounded and started stomping on him.

"YOU DAMN FATTY! That's slower than last time, isn't it?" Hiruma yelled. "What were you doing all morning?"

"I can't help it! I'm tired," Kurita replied. Hiruma dashed over to the starting line.

"Hey watch this!" he yelled. Sena set the watch and hit the button when Hiruma started. Sena hit it again when Hiruma passed him.

"Wow!" Sena and Kurita gazed at the watch in wonder. It read 5.1 seconds.

"Ya-ha! My best time ever!" exclaimed Hiruma. "And last, but not least…"

He turned to look at Sena. Sena shrugged, handed the stopwatch to Kurita, and wandered to the starting line, ignoring the conversation that was taking place behind him.

"Ready, set," Hiruma yelled, bazooka once again on his shoulder. BOOM! Sena took off at the loud noise. Normally when he was asked to do this, he would go at a quick jog. Now, though, he wanted to impress his new teammates. He went as fast as he could go without being completely terrified. Quickly passing Kurita, he slowed to a stop. Walking back, he waited for the verdict. He didn't have to wait long.

"4.5 seconds! That's almost as fast as Shin!" Kurita gasped out. He took hold of Sena's shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Sena, you can't keep this ability hidden!"

"The spring game is ours!" Hiruma chuckled. He was amazed. The kid was worth twice his weight in gold. The Christmas bowl was theirs.

"Oh, that's right. The game is soon," Kurita said. Sena knew it was the next day.

"We better start gather 'support' players," Hiruma said as he gathered up equipment. Sena went to help him out.

"When is the game?" Kurita asked.

"Tomorrow," Sena and Hiruma said at the exact same time. Blinking, Hiruma glanced at Sena.

"I looked up the tournament brackets last night," Sena said, correctly reading the question in the glance. He then turned to calm a panicking Kurita. Once he had Kurita calmed, they moved to the clubhouse. Sena set about making some tea. He knew that it would help further calm everyone. With another glance at Hiruma, he made sure that the captain's cup didn't have any sugar. He noticed that the older boy chewed sugarless gum and drank sugarless sports drinks. Handing the cup to Hiruma, Sena went to go sit with Kurita at the table. The captain nodded in thanks when he took a sip and it didn't gag him.

"We need eight more players by tomorrow's game! We'll split up and round some people up!" Hiruma was very militant.

"Eight?" Kurita inquired. Sena tilted his head in confusion.

"But I thought you need eleven for football…" he tapered off, realizing what Hiruma meant.

Hiruma counted off.

"Nine," pointed at himself. "Ten," at Kurita. "Eleven," at Sena. Sena rolled his eyes at him, amused.

"If I'm needed," he informed them. "Not before. The team we're against is a crappy one. You shouldn't need your secret weapon for them. So we need to find nine players." Hiruma drew a chart on the white board, three pillars with their names at the bottom.

"Three each! Do whatever you have to! Just drag 'em in from the other sports teams!" Hiruma loudly proclaimed, smacking the broad.

"Of course. Whoever brings in the least gets the penalty game," the grin that was on Hiruma face wasn't reassuring. Given their marching orders, the trio went to class. At lunchtime, Sena verified that Juumonji and his friends would still be coming to play in the game. They informed him that they will be. Once they make a promise, they don't go back on it.

After school, he wander though the clubs, asking if any of the players could help out with the game. Some said that they would try. Others declined. He hit a winner at the track and field team.

"The football game? Sure I'll play," a kid named Ishimaru said.

"Really!" Sena asked surprised.

"Sure, why not? Hiruma is recruiting new first years, right?" Ishimaru shrugged into his school jacket. "If I play with you guys, I can see their athletic ability. Maybe I can convince the promising ones to join the track team. Would that be all right? A sort of 'give and take?'"

"Sure. Great! So I can count on you tomorrow?" Ishimaru turned around very quickly.

"Tomorrow! No way! Can't do it!"

"Really! Why not?" Sena was disappointed.

"I got a job delivering the local town magazine. And it has to be out by tomorrow afternoon so I can't make the game. Sorry!" Ishimaru was very apologetic. Sena chewed on his lip, thinking.

"Maybe I can help you deliver them. If we get it done tonight, you could play in the game," he offered. Ishimaru smiled and nodded.

"Sounds great. If we do it now, we can get done before dark." Quickly getting the magazines, Ishimaru divided a map in two and handed him half of the stack. Splitting up, they set about delivering the magazines. Sena mapped out the quickest route and went from mailbox to mailbox. Once he was finished, Sena headed back to the school. He met up with Ishimaru there.

"Thanks you were a big help. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Ishimaru thanked him.

"Sure," Sena waved goodbye and headed back to the clubhouse. When he entered, he saw a depressed Kurita. Glancing at the white board, Sena saw that Kurita hadn't find anyone and Hiruma had found seven players. With another glance at Kurita, he placed four makers above his name.

"Great! That's great Sena!" Kurita cried happily, picking Sena up and swinging him around. "We've got eleven players now!"

They settled down and was about to sit down at the table, when the door slammed open.

"Damn convenience store! They're out of sugarless gum!" Hiruma yelled, throwing some pop at the two of them. "Even a fly wouldn't chew sugary gum!" He walked to the white board. He glanced at the board.

"Oops, forgot to finish putting these up," he reached into the box and put up eleven more markers.

"Wow, Hiruma. That's a lot of people. We have more than enough now," Sena said amazed.

"I see the only one that didn't have any luck finding players was damn fatty," Hiruma observed. "You'll have a penalty game." He crackled evilly. He didn't think that the chibi would have been able to get that many people. He would have to see who the younger boy had found. They departed shortly after that.

Sena called the girls on his way home to make sure that they would be at the field when the team got there. Pleased with the positive answer he received, Sena quickly went about his nightly routine. Going to bed early so he could be there early, Sena fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Sena walked to the meeting place early the next morning. Since the day was going to be warm, he was dressed in his usual out of school attire. A pair of dark green cargo pants, a light green muscle shirt, and his combat boots. He had a light blue windbreaker on in case the temperature changed. He also wore it to hide the bandage on his wrist. It was much better this morning, but it still needed to be wrapped. Seeing Ishimaru standing near some other boys, he walked over to him, waving hello.

"Hi, glad you could come," Sena said when he was close enough. Ishimaru smiled in return.

"Everyone here?" Hiruma asked, walking up behind him. Sena recognized the basketball player that answered from the day before.

"Yeah, you're the last one…" the brunette said. "So where are the totally hot cheerleaders?" There were several other players asking with the brunette.

"They're going to meet us there," Sena replied before Hiruma could. When the blonde glanced at him, Sena just shrugged and smiled. He looked around, he noted that the three bullies from class. He nodded to them, before noticing that someone was missing.

"Where's Kurita-san? He's late…" he trailed off confused. The larger boy was very excited for the game. He wouldn't miss it.

"Penalty game," Hiruma turned to look at him. Blinking, Sena nodded.

"What was his penalty?" asked Sena, interested.

"I couldn't do anything too bad to him before the game," Hiruma shrugged. "He just has to carry the baggage." Ishimaru walked over to them.

"I came empty handed. Is that ok?" he asked the blonde captain. Hiruma nodded.

"I've taken care of everything," Hiruma said. He perked up, seeing Kurita. "There you are, damn fatty…Hey, we're leaving now!"

Kurita was hauling a huge stack of luggage. It was on wheels, to make for easier hauling. Not that Sena believed for a minute that that huge amount of boxes was easy. Not even for the large teen.

"This is a bit heavy," Kurita commented, confirming Sena's thoughts. Gathering everyone up, they headed to the train station. Waiting to board the train, Sena notice Hiruma writing something down. Looking around the taller teen's arm to see it, Sena chuckled. It was a sign that read "Cleaning in Progress. Find another car, damnit!" Probably to make it so they could have their own train car. When Hiruma looked at him, Sena just smile up at the taller teen in amusement.

He helped Kurita load everything into the car and settled down into a seat. As they rode the train, everyone chatted about various things. Kurita soon started a conversation about the football season. Sena pulled a copy of the tournament brackets out of his pocket.

"Wow! There's a lot more teams this year!" Kurita exclaimed. Sena nodded in agreement, looking at the sheet. Sena noticed some smoke rising from the bottom of the sheet. Looking down, he saw that Hiruma, crouching in front of him, was burning the sheet with a lighter. Sena let go of the paper quickly as to not get burned. He glared at Hiruma in irritation.

"Don't bother thinking about the unnecessary," Hiruma said, snapping the lighter closed. "We are gonna win **today**! That's all we think about." As he rose from his crouch, Sena whapped Hiruma on the back of the head. Everyone gasped as Hiruma stared at the small brunette. Sena met the shocked gaze.

"Next time, just ask me to put it away, Hiruma-san," Sena stated matter of factly. "Do that again, and it won't be a slap. It will be a fist connecting with your head." Hiruma held his gaze for a few more moments then nodded in understanding. The small brunette had just confirmed Hiruma suspicions from the other day. Sena wasn't going to manageable; he wasn't going to be intimidated by him. Not easily at least. Sena bent down and picked up the scrap of the paper that was left of the tournament brackets.

"All that's left is today's game," Sena said looking it over.

"Good! In the first round we're up against…The Koigahama Cupids!" Sena noticed that Hiruma was a little on the dramatic side. The train arrived at their stop shortly after that. They gathered up the boxes and walked to the field. There was a game in play as they arrived. Pausing to watch, Sena was amazed.

"Wow," he said as a player went down.

"It looks like the earlier game is just ending," Hiruma commented. The Deimon team started getting ready. While he made sure everyone had gear, he kept an eye out for their cheerleaders. As he looked around, he saw Ishimaru getting a pair of cleats from the box that held the artificial turf cleats.

"Ishimaru, wait! Those are the wrong cleats!" he called out. He picked up the box that had the right cleats and carried it over to the sprinter. "Anybody that got cleats out of that box, come switch them out! If your cleats don't have spikes on the bottom, then they are the wrong kind!"

Sena walked around making sure that everyone had the right kind of shoes on. As he did so, he heard some disgruntle players wanting to get the game over with. _Our team isn't very spirited,_ he thought as he walked over to Kurita. The older teen was looking over at the other side of the field.

"It looks like the other team is here," Kurita commented. The team was there and so were their girlfriends. It was a rather sickening display of cooing. Just looking at it made Sena want to vomit. Although it did have a good effect of on his team; it made them ticked off. It made them want to win. One of their players did remember something.

"Hey, but aren't we suppose to have our own cheerleaders?" he asked. The others nodded and murmured in agreement.

"They're late," one said just as Sena saw a group walking towards them. Recognizing them, Sena grinned.

"No, they're just on time," he corrected as he walked to the group. The team stared in shocked awe as Sena hugged the four girls that seemed to be in control of the large group of very attractive girls in Deimon's school cheerleading outfits. Sena and the girls started strolled back to the team as the leader of the Cupid's showed up with his girlfriend. They paused to listen to what the rival captain had to say.

"Hey there, Mangy Devil Bat…" the rather sleazy looking captain. "Sorry about all the high-pitched squealing and cheering on our side…These girls, they just insist on coming out to support us!" He made a show of looking around.

"Hey! Where are your girls?" he gasped in false concern. Sena spoke up at that point.

"Right here," he gestured to the girls behind him. The girls all gave the captain a rather dirty look before turning away, dismissing the teen. The teen stalked away as the girls cheered.

"GO DEVIL BATS!"

The team cheered with the girls. Hiruma smirked at Sena. Sena just shrugged; then lifted an eyebrow at the Deimon captain.

"How did you plan to get the cheerleaders?" he asked. Hiruma's smirk grew.

"I was planning on using their girlfriends," Hiruma jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the other team. "I was going to them a photo of Haruto Sakuraba from Jari Productions." He held up a photo of an attractive, blonde boy in a football gear. Sena noticed that a small part of Hiruma's head in the corner of the picture.

"Somehow, I don't think that you got the picture through the proper channels," Sena said dryly. Hiruma chuckled evilly.

"Sakuraba-kun plays football for his high school," Kurita said. "Last year at a practice match, Hiruma forced him to take a picture. The Ojo White Knights are an excellent team. Really powerful…But we somehow managed to hold them down to 99-0!"

"Was that your score or theirs?" Sena inquired. Kurita shrugged sheepishly.

"Theirs," was the answer. Kurita continued on to explained about the point system for the players that don't know anything about American football. "Basically, you want to get the ball into the end zone. Then you score six points." Hiruma tapped on his computer.

"That's the end zone," the sprinklers in front of the goal posts went off.

"So those posts aren't the goal?" one of the players that was from the soccer team asked.

"Oh…You can also kick the ball threw the posts," Kurita answered. "But that's only three points."

"So, you would be better off running, since it's six points," Sena said, understanding that there was more to the game than that from his conversations with Rui.

"When you _can _run, that is," Hiruma interjected.

"But the other team will try to tackle you to stop like this!" Kurita exclaimed as he did a bluff tackle at Sena. "Somehow you've got to avoid…" Sena waited to the last second, and then side stepped the tackle. Hiruma just smirked. Sena went around the team area for the next ten minutes, making sure that everything was in order. He also check on several of the players, making sure that they had everything and answering any questions that they may of had.

"All right, huddle up!" Hiruma called, the team gathering around him. "Got it, guys? If we lose, it'll be our last game. So don't think about playing a good game. Just make sure we beat them! That's all!"

"WE'RE…" The whole team took a deep breath. "GONNA…" The whole team shouted the last phrase together. "**… KILL THEM!**"

_Interesting rallying cry._ Sena thought, amused. He settled down on the bench to film the game with a camcorder that Hiruma had handed him. While he tape and half listened to the girls' cheers, he thought back to the conversation that he had had with Juumonji and his friends before the game started.

~**Flashback**~

"_Oy, Sena-kun. Come here real quick," Juumonji called to him from the far side of the team area. When Sena came over, the taller boy gestured for him to sit near them. Toganou nodded to him. Kuroki leaned forward._

"_Hey Sena-kun, I have a question. Why are you so friendly towards us? I mean, it's not like we were nice when we first met you," Kuroki asked. Sena blinked, then gave the question the amount of consideration that it deserved. _

"_Because I'm a friendly person and I want to be friends with you," Sena said after a ten second pause. It wasn't rocket science, at least not to Sena. He wanted them as friends so he was friendly to them. The trio stared at him for a while. Toganou finally broke the mutual staring._

"_Why do you want to be friends with us?" he asked. "We're bullies. We would have happily beat the crap out of you if you didn't have friends in…low places. We are not friendly people. Our only friends are eachother." Sena smiled at them and stood._

"_Well, now you have another one," he said as the trio stood. "One that doesn't require you to be anything other then yourselves." Sena smiled one last time at them and headed over to the bench where Hiruma pulled out a camcorder. _

"_Are they the ones that you got for the game?" Hiruma asked, watching the trio suit up._

"_Yeah. I thought that maybe if they had a way to get their anger out, one that involved violence without them getting in trouble, they would stay on the team," Sena explained his reasoning for asking them. "We'll have to see if they like the game." Hiruma nodded, already calculating how to keep them on the team. As he turned away, the camcorder was placed in Sena's hands._

~**End Flashback**~

Sena found it quite funny that the boys thought that just because they were big and mean that it automatically meant that he would avoid them. He had thought that with him eating lunch with them everyday that they'd get that he didn't care. Well, he couldn't expect them to be geniuses when it came to friendship. After all, everyone did avoid them; so why shouldn't they expect him to do the same?

When half time rolled around the score was still 0-0. Sena handed everyone a cup of a sports drink to keep them hydrated as they walked passed him to rest. Taking his own cup with him, he walked over to Hiruma and Kurita. Just in time to see Hiruma crush his cup.

"Damn it! Get outta of here!" he growled. Seeing their confused looks, he pointed. "Over there." Looking across the field, Sena saw two boys filming the game. One he recognized as Haruto Sakuraba from that picture Hiruma showed him, the other boy he didn't know. He was tall and muscular with dark hair.

"It's Sakuraba-kun!" Kurita gasped. Hiruma jumped on the taller teen's back and forcibly turned his head with a foot.

"Who gives a damn about him? Look who's next to him," Hiruma snapped out. "It's Shin from the White Knights. He holds the fastest record in high school and he's a powerful linebacker. He's too strong—it's not human!"

"Uh-huh… he made quite the impression last year at the practice match," Kurita agreed. Sena piped up at that point.

"What's a linebacker?"

"It's a defensive position," Kurita answered. "A linebacker stops both running and passing—it's a critical part of the defense."

"I want to keep our jewel hidden from Shin," Hiruma said, tapping Sena on the head. "Or they'll find a way to counter him. I'll put him in as soon as Shin leaves." Sena snorted a laugh.

"That sounds like a very self-serving plan to me…" Sena poked Hiruma in the side to get his attention. "How about you use Ishimaru-kun? He's on the track team and the fastest one here besides myself." Hiruma looked at him thoughtfully before turning and walking out on to the field for the second half.

The next quarter and most of the last were very similar to the first half. No one scoring or getting close. As the game got closer to ending, Sena wondered if Hiruma always ignored any idea that wasn't his. There was twenty seconds left on the clock when Kurita tackled the ball carrier at the ten yard line. It was obvious that the other team was going to kick the ball to win the game. When the Devil Bats huddled up, Sena noticed Hiruma making some gestures to Ishimaru. It seemed like Hiruma was going to listen to Sena after all.

When the Cupids got the ball set to kick, Ishimaru ran straight at it. Reaching out, he not only blocked the ball, but he was able to grab it and head back down the field. Since the Cupids hadn't expected the block, no one was ready to block him. By the time they were running after him, there was no way they were going to catch him. It came to no surprise to Sena when the track star made a touchdown. The game ended soon after with a fireworks show provided by Hiruma. Sena heard a voice at that point that he hadn't expected to hear.

"Sena-kun! What's going on?" Sena turned to see Mamori run up. "Are you alright?"

"Mamori-nee-chan! We won the game. That's why everyone is happy," Sena exclaimed happily. "But why are you here?"

"I came because I was worried. I don't like it that you're with such a dangerous person," Mamori said, sending a glare to Hiruma as he walked up. "Come on. I'll find you a better club." She took a hold of his hand and started walking. Sena stopped her short by not walking with her and letting go of her hand.

"I like being on the team. I'm going to keep with it," Sena stated strongly. "Sorry Mamori-nee-chan. But if it will make you feel better, you can help me manage the team. Girls can be managers too, and I need the help. At least with the clubhouse. It's a disaster zone." Sena smiled up at her. Mamori beamed at him.

"That's a great idea, Sena-kun!" At that point, the players from the team walked up and distracted her. Sena walked over to Hiruma, who was grinning.

"Free manual labor!" the older boy was quite pleased with the chibi. He not only was a great runner, but he was a good recruiter too. Kurita was very happy as well.

"This is great! Not only did we win, but we now have four permanent teammates!" the tall boy smiled. "This could be the year… I mean, we could advance pretty far! As long as we don't get matched up the Ojo White Knights…"

"Ojo?" Sena asked. "I guess it would be a good idea to wait to play them until finals. However, do to a pyromaniac, the schedule was all burnt up." Sena sent a dirty look towards Hiruma, which was ignored.

"Hiruma-kun, who do we play next?" Kurita asked.

"The Ojo White Knights." Sena sighed before calming Kurita down. The trip back was as quick as the way down. During the train ride, Sena went over to talk to Juumonji.

"So, what did you think?" Sena asked sitting next to the blonde boy. Juumonji considered him for a while before answering.

"It was fun, I suppose," the words sounded guarded. "It was different, being able to be violent without getting in trouble." Sena smiled and nodded. That was what he hoped would happen.

"So will you continue to play? We are up against a stronger team next and we need all the help we can get," Sena explained when Juumonji sent him a look. "You don't have to decide now. You can think about it; discuss it with Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun and let me know tomorrow, maybe?"

"We'll think about it," was the answer Sena received. He nodded his agreement. That was all he could do, it was up to them now. When the train stopped, he waved good-bye to everyone and headed home. He hadn't done his workout this morning and wanted to get some exercise in. He was in the middle of his second go through when his mom called him in.

"Mamori-chan called. She asked me to tell you she will be at school early, so be sure to set your alarm. Alright, sweetie?" she asked. Sena nodded in agreement and went to finish his workout. After he finished, he quickly went through his nightly routine. He laid down in bed early that night. Before he went to sleep, he sent a mass text to the dock brats, letting them know when the next game was. He had a moment to hope that they were able to come before he succumbed to sleep.

The next morning Sena was up bright and early. He went for a light jog, and then got ready for school. He wanted to get there at the same time as Mamori-nee-chan so that she didn't have to clean the clubhouse all by herself. He forgot to take in account when he got up. Since he was used to getting up before dawn, he was there at least an hour before anyone else. He started cleaning while he waited. His method was simple. Move all the big stuff, like the table and chairs, outside and throw anything not football related into one big pile. Anything that was football related, like the balls, was tossed in another pile. He was just tossing the bongo set on the 'non-football' pile when Mamori arrived. She was carrying a bunch of cleaning supplies. Nodding to her, he grabbed the brooms and the mops from her to lighten the load.

They cleaned everything in the building until it sparkled. At that point they moved on to the stuff outside it. He took the football pile, and she took the non-football pile. It took an hour and a half to clean and organize everything back in the clubhouse, but when they were done, it looked great. They were doing a final swipe with a dry cloth, when Kurita walked in carrying an enormous amount of cakes and sweets.

"Incredible!" the three of them exclaimed, but for different reasons. As Mamori and Kurita bonded over cream puffs, Sena made tea. He set cups next to both of them and went to get his cup when the door opened. Hiruma walked in carrying a box.

"Good, you are all here," he said, kicking the table so that the top popped off and the cakes went flying. He flipped the table top over to display football field. "I'm gonna explain the game against the White Knights."

"You could have waited until we cleared off the cakes!" Mamori yelled at him. "You're so self-centered!" Sena and Kurita watched off to the side so that they weren't in the line of fire. Hiruma just ignored the girl in favor of opening the box and dumping the contents on the table. It was scale models of the two teams.

"Dolls?" Sena asked, picking some up to look at them.

"The Scale Modeler's Club _gladly_ worked on them all night for us," Hiruma laughed. He set up the dolls in formation. "All right, let's go over strategy. This one is going to take it and run the whole time. That's it." He moved the Eyeshield 21 doll through the mass of doll players.

"Seriously?" Sena asked in exasperation. "That's a lot of work for one player." Hiruma smirked at him.

"You mean no passing at all?" Kurita asked. "Even say at the third down with ten yards to go?"

"Nobody can catch anyway, right?" Hiruma asked in reply, reclining in his seat with his feet up on the table.

"…Third down?" Sena asked, trying to recall were he hear that before.

"Oh, we haven't covered that yet, have we?" Kurita smiled. Mamori offered a book to Sena.

"Here, Sena I'll lend you this," she held the book up so he could read the title. It read _Football Made Easy._ "I read this last night. I don't need it now."

"Good student as always," Sena commented as he took the book.

"I doubt you got it all by one night of cramming," Hiruma stated in boredom. As Mamori turned on him, Sena shared a look with Kurita. In silent agreement, they moved away from the dueling duo.

"So, football is like basketball, in that it alternates between offensive and defensive," Kurita explained. "Each team gets four tries to when they are on offense."

"I remember from the game," Sena nodded.

"Offense's goal is to advance 10 yards," Kurita showed him with the dolls. "If the offensive team gets past 10 yards before the fourth down, then they get another four tries on offense. But if not, then they lose possession." At that point, Hiruma shot some bullets into the ceiling, distracting the two.

"**NAME ALL THE WAYS THAT POSSESSION OF THE BALL CAN CHANGE!**" Hiruma growled out loudly, proving to Sena that he was paying attention to what his teammates were doing. As Mamori answered the older teen, Sena was impressed with her knowledge. After she was done, Kurita continued with his explanation.

(A/N: I'm not going to write the whole fight down so if you want to see it, read it in the manga. :p)

"Right, so when one of those happens, possession changes. And we go back and forth facing each other's goal line." Kurita moved his hand back and forth in the motion that the teams take.

"So it's like a big, territorial tug-of-war," Sena observed. "So each team is to get through this narrow space. What's the best way to do that?"

"Leave that to me!" Kurita informed him. "Our positions' role is to form a blocking wall, which creates an opening. This is where we enter the world of power!" Sena chuckled when Kurita flexed his biceps.

"C'mon you guys. It's time for some strength training," Hiruma interrupted at that point, already walking out the door. Mamori tried to call him back. It seemed like he had walked out before the last question was asked. The three of them followed Hiruma to the weight room after they changed into their gym clothes and, in Kurita's case, the football uniform.

"The manager also serves as the team trainer," Hiruma informed Mamori. "So you'd better learn how to do the bench press." Sena served as the demonstration dummy, with Kurita telling him how to lie on the bench.

"You start with light weights," Kurita said as Hiruma walked up with some weights.

"Why don't we start with 20kg?" he suggested as he placed the weights on the bar. Sena held the weights with ease. He lifted the bar up and down a couple of times to prove that he could, and then he placed it back in the holder.

"Let's add another 5kg," Sena said. With the weights in place, he lifted the bar up and down. It was harder this time.

"I think that that was my limit," Sena said, placing the bar in the holder and sitting up. Mamori wanted to try and was able to lift the 20kg. Sena was more impressed with Hiruma's 75kg and Kurita's 160kg. Sena watched and participated with the weights for a little longer before going back to the field. Picking up a ball, he tossed it high in the air. Running under it, he tried to catch it. Since he wasn't as physically strong as the others, he was going to have to be better at catching and carrying the ball. He missed the ball, but he kept trying. After he got a little advice from Hiruma on catching, he headed inside to get ready for school.

During lunch he headed to the roof as usual. And as usual, he was joined by Juumonji, Kuroki, and Toganou. He didn't ask if they had decided about joining the team. He didn't want to pressure them. Lunch passed in a pleasant silence. It was when they were walking down to class when he got an answer.

"We're joining," was all that Juumonji said, but it made Sena's day. He beamed up at them happily.

"Great! We have practice after school and in the mornings at 7am," he informed them. "Since you will be linemen, you'll be working with Kurita-san. He's easy-going so you won't have to be nervous about him, ok?" They nodded in reply. Sena smiled the rest of the day. After school, he walked with them to the clubhouse. Kurita was already there

"Guess what, Kurita-san?" Sena asked cheerfully. "Juumonji-kun, Kuroki-kun, and Toganou-kun decided to join the team!"

"Really?" the older boy exclaimed. "That's great! What position will you be playing?" Kurita went about getting them uniforms. Sena lent a hand in passing the pads out.

"We're going to be linemen," Juumonji answered as he pulled the shoulder pads on. After a quick rundown on what they were suppose to do, everyone headed down to the field. The four linemen started their practice and Sena started jogging around the field. About ten minutes later, Hiruma arrived. He gazed at the three additions to the team in amazement. He hadn't blackmailed them yet. So why were they here?

He received his answer when the damn chibi jogged up to him with a very happy smile on his face. Hiruma studied the smaller teen as he came to a stop. It made the demon captain pleased when he saw that Sena's wrist was no longer bandaged. It was still faintly discolored, but nothing to bad. It would be fine for the game.

"Juumonji-kun, Kuroki-kun, and Toganou-kun decided to join the team," Sena stated excitedly. "Isn't it great?" Hiruma nodded in agreement. Practice that night went well. Hiruma didn't torture anyone very much and the three former bullies pulled their own weight. Sena went home that night very pleased. As he started his workout, he had one thought. _We will win! We will beat the Ojo White Knights!_

~There, one more chapter. So we are all aware, I completely believe that caffeine is God's gift to humans. Of course I've had 6 Mtn Dews in the past hour as well so I could be biased. And slightly hyper Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and know that I will be continuing all of my stories. Some will be in a mass posting though, so don't give up on it. It's just taking me a while to revamp it. Reviews, please? ~


	7. Ojo vs Deimon

~ _Jumping up and down. _I've started on a new chapter! I'm feeling good right now. I'm glad that everyone liked the last chapter. I'm going strong right now; it's great!

Onward! To the next chapter!~

**Disclaimer**: I DON'T OWN EYESHEILD 21! I DON'T OWN ANYTHING THAT YOU MAY RECOGNIZE FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE! I DON'T MAKE ANY MONEY OFF OF ANY OF IT!

Speech- "Blah"

Thoughts- _Blah_

Random Stuff That I'm Doing – **Blah**

Sena was in a good mood the day of the game. He had gotten up early enough that he was able to make a healthy bento lunch for all the players before he went for his jog. He had received calls from all the dock brats wishing him good luck and promises to try to get to the game. He did get some of the girls promising to come and cheer for them in uniform. It was a good morning all around.

He arrived at the school ten minutes before anyone else. Hiruma arrived next, producing some carts from somewhere. The team leader hooked two of the carts together before taking the third somewhere. He was very pleased when he came back. Sena decided to ignore this behavior from the captain, firmly believing that if he asked, it wouldn't be good for his mental health. His belief was further proven when he saw Hiruma writing tardy on some white head bands with dog bones attached to them.

As his teammates arrived, he mentally checked off everyone. Juumonji, Kuroki, and Toganou arrived in time to nodded and wave hello to him. It was close to the time when they needed to leave when he noticed that four boys weren't there yet. With a sinking sensation, he got into the second cart when he was told to. When the boys arrived everyone was in the carts and Hiruma pressed them into service. Wearing the head bands, and being chased by the dog that Sena had met that first day, they pulled everyone to the stadium. The dog, Cerberus, pulled the third cart that had all their equipment in it.

It was rather embarrassing to see the Ojo players arrive in buses while they arrived in such a sad way. Especially when Hiruma was enjoying it so much.

"Hurry it up, he's going to eat you!" the blonde captain hollered out, cracking a whip that Sena had no idea where it came from. When the boys stopped on their side of the field, Sena was quick to note that there seemed to be a very large amount of people sitting in the stands. Mostly girls from the look of things.

"Why so many for a local game?" Sena mused out loud. Kurita walked up behind him.

"They're here to see Haruto Sakuraba," he explained. Mamori walked up carrying some towels.

"Wow—there's the T.V. station," she said, looking over her shoulder. Kurita nodded and looked down at the field.

"That must be why we're at this field," he said. "I've never played on real grass before." As Sena handed out uniforms and equipment, he saw that Ojo was having meals delivered to the players. Handing shoulder pads to a player, he went over to where he had stored the meals he made this morning. Walking over just in time to hear some players grumble about being hungry, he smiled at Mamori. She held up a small box.

"It's not nearly so fancy, but I made it myself," she said. "Please help yourselves." Sena cleared his throat as well.

"I got these this morning as well, so we have a good meal for you guys," he displayed the bentos. He passed them out as Mamori gave everyone one of her rice balls. He was handing Hiruma his when the older teen stopped him.

"You didn't pick these up at a store." It was a statement. Sena blushed a little and shook his head. Ducking his head down, Sena looked up at the teen through his eyelashes.

"No, I made them. I wanted the team to have something to give them more energy for the game," he said shyly. "Most store bought bentos don't have much nutrientional value." Hiruma looked at him with an unreadable expression before taking the lunch with a nod of thanks. Sena hurried to pass out the rest of them to the players, and he set the box he made for the dog in front of the animal.

Opening the box he made for himself, he settled down near Hiruma. He wanted to be near the teen without it being obvious. It wasn't easy having a crush on the demonic teen, but Sena wasn't going to be deterred from trying to get Hiruma's affection. He just had to take it slow and ease his way to getting the blonde captain to accept him.

It was as he was finishing his lunch when he saw not only all of the girls in cheer uniforms, but all of the boys from the docks and most if not all of the workers and managers arrive. He stared at them for a small moment, sighed, and got up to talk to them. He walked over to them in an unhurried stride that closed the distance between him and them in a short time. He came to a halt in front of them and planted his hands on his hips. He didn't say anything at first, he just stared at all of them. They were beginning to fidget when he finally spoke.

"Do I even want to know why you all are here?" was the very dry question that came out of Sena's mouth. "I mean, I knew that some of the girls were coming to cheer us on. I didn't realize that I was going to have all of the docks emptied, just to watch me play." Deruku snorted.

"Well, you should have, Sena-kun," he said. "The dock brats are going to come to all of your games. Though, I will admit that I didn't know that the workers were coming. Or the managers for that matter."

"I told the workers that you had a game and they wanted to come," Reuisu said. "The other managers knew and wanted to support you as well. Marukusu-sama would have come but he had to work on payroll." Sena sighed and shook his head. He sent the girls over to the watching team, and he sent the others to the stands. He grabbed Deruku's arm before he left.

"Do any of you have any cameras?" Sena asked, accepting that he wasn't going to get them to leave. He was actually kind of happy that they all wanted to come. "I need an excuse as to why I won't be on the sidelines—"

"And saying that your going to take pictures in the stands is a good way to be at the game but not be seen," Deruku interrupted, nodding. "I know that some of the boys do, so I'll talk to them. Any type of pictures in particular?"

"Ones that show formation would be great and helpful," A voice from behind Sena said. "You can see things from the stands that you don't get on the sidelines." Hiruma walked up in time to hear and answer Deruku's question. The blonde and brunette eyed each other over Sena's head. Hiruma with calculating curiosity; Deruku with slightly hostile curiosity.

Deruku knew that Sena was interested in Hiruma. It was in the way that Sena watched and looked at the taller teen. He just wasn't sure if he liked the older boy for Sena. Hiruma knew who and what this boy was and who everyone else was as well. He just didn't understand how the damn chibi knew them. He would find out how though. Soon.

"It's time to get ready for the game, Hiruma-san," Sena interrupted the staring match. He turned Hiruma around and pushed him back to the team. After telling Mamori that he would be in the stands, he grabbed his gear and went to go change. He was on his way back when Cerberus came running around the corner. He quickly crouched and scooped up the dog when it dove for him. Scratching the mutt behind the ear to calm it, he continued walking to the field.

When he rounded the corner, he was surprised to see that everyone was happy to see him. He was very confused when the team started talking about sacrificing him to Shin, but he dismissed it when Kurita walked up to him.

"Sena, I thought you went home," the older boy whispered. Sena sent him a searching look.

"No, I wouldn't do that," Sena said. "I just went to go get changed. I want to play in the game. I'll do the best I can!" Kurita smiled. At that moment, Sena received a hard kick in the rear. He set Cerberus down and turned around.

"What? What I do to make you mad?" Sena inquired of Hiruma, who was walking away. The question was ignored as Hiruma called everyone to huddle up.

"He's not mad at you," Kurita said behind him. Sena shrugged and went to the huddle. After the same rally cry as the last game, they set for the kick off. Hiruma caught the ball only to be tackled right away.

"Urgh…this game will be different from the last one," the blonde captain said as he sat up. Sena nodded, noted something that Hiruma hadn't seen yet, and settled into position. As per the game plan, when the ball was thrown into play, Sena faked taking the ball and headed off. The linemen went after him just as he had hope. Leaving Ishimaru free to take the ball and head for the end zone.

By the time Sena was tackled and the White Knights realized that he didn't have the ball, Ishimaru was at the thirty yard line and even when he was tackled, he was very close to the ten yard line. It was at that moment that Hiruma saw what Sena had noted earlier.

"Shin's on the bench. We've got a chance," Hiruma said before turning on the lineman. "Alright, Eyeshield 21 will be running the ball this time. Linemen, you'd better block as hard as you can!"

Sena listened to them grumble and Hiruma snapping at them that they didn't need to hold the opposite team for long, they just needed to hold the team back long enough for Eyeshield to get through. Juumonji eyed him during the huddle and as they got ready. Sena got the feeling that the blonde lineman guessed who he really was.

When Juumonji glanced at him again, Sena smiled. With a slight nod, Juumonji put all his strength into pushing against the opposing linemen when the ball was put into play. As a hole was created, Sena shoved through and made it across into the end zone.

"Touchdown!"

"YA-HA!"

For the extra-point conversion, Sena was the ball setter. After the ball was hiked to him, Sena waited until the last second before Hiruma kicked the ball, and just as the older teen made to kick the ball, Sena moved the ball into his arms. He set off towards the end zone. He had to give it the White Knights, they did recover quickly. He made two yards before he was push out of bounds.

"Well, it can't be helped," Hiruma said as Sena walked up. "But at least the fake worked. It might have been too much to expect our guys to push all the way to the end zone." Hiruma did the kick off for the next quarter. He just kicked the hell out of it, causing it to hit someone on the sidelines. Sena watched as the Ojo players switched out players. Just as Sakuraba stepped out onto the field, the girls in the stands went nuts.

"SAKURABA-KUN!" all of them screamed. Sena watched with a huge amount of amusement as the security guards tried to make sure that the girls didn't stampede the player. They were succeeding so far. Glancing over at the dock girls, Sena started laughing, hard. Hiruma looked at him, confusion evident. Unable to speak just yet, Sena pointed first at the stands and then to their cheerleaders. Hiruma started chuckling as well.

Their girls were staring at the girls in the stands in complete and utter horror. It was clear that they couldn't fathom why those girls were acting like they had no brains at all. Sena knew that they spent most of their time at the docks, instead of keeping track of the latest fashions or whom was the most popular actors were. So, when faced with their complete opposites, they didn't know how to react. It was funny. Once Sena and Hiruma got control of themselves, they joined the huddle.

"Okay, listen up. There's no way our amateur team can stop the White Knights," Hiruma started out. "We can't completely stop their running and passing. So then here's what we'll do…" Sena listen to Hiruma's crazy idea as the girls screamed even louder.

"You do realize that that's insane, right?" Sena inquired when he finished. Hiruma nodded.

"And that's fine. Football is not a game of chance…you've got to strategize to get a lucky punch in!" Hiruma grinned. As the team waited for the refs to quiet the girls down, Sena watched as a really big Knights player walked over. If Sena was remembering right, the teen's name was Otawara. He was the only player on the opposing team that was a match for Kurita. Otawara grabbed a field marker from its holder.

"Kurita…" Otawara walked over to the friendly teen and bent the metal marker into a zigzag pattern. He tossed it onto the ground at Kurita's feet and laughed. Kurita picked it up and, in a similar show of strength, straighten the marker back out. Kurita handed it back to the holder with an apologetic expression. Having watched Kurita do this, Otawara walked off laughing. Sena and Kurita weren't really sure what that was all about, but they ignored it in favor of getting into formation.

Sena could hear the confused murmuring over their choosing to use a goal line defense instead of a different formation. Hiruma's plan was insane, but thinking on it made Sena see that it had the best chance of working. When the White Knights quarterback, Takami, set the ball into motion, Kurita push all his strength in to the fight with Otawara. He was able to make Otawara go down, but he wasn't able to get to the quarterback.

Takami threw the ball to Sakuraba, who caught the ball but went down instead of running with it. Sena noticed that while he caught it, the ball had enough spin to it that if he hadn't gone down, the ball would have flown out of his hands. Sakuraba did the right thing going down. It was clear that he needed to practice catching though.

The game continued in this fashion, Sena reading each pass to see if he could get it. It wasn't until they were twelve yards to the end zone that Sena saw a chance. As Takami threw the ball, Sena saw that it was low enough that he could intercept it. He took off towards Sakuraba, reaching him in time to reach up. Remembering Hiruma's advice from that day, he put his thumbs together with his arms stretched up. The ball landed directly into Sena's hands, but just like with Sakuraba's first catch, the spin on the ball caused it to pop out of his hands. Right into Hiruma's.

"Nice going, damn chibi," Hiruma grinned before turning and heading back down the field. "YA-HA!" The White Knights scrambled to back up and cover the interception. Two players were able to come up and block Hiruma, but before they could tackle him, Hiruma turned and tossed the ball back to Sena. Up until now, Sena wasn't able to show his full speed as he was a decoy mostly.

Now Sena was going full throttle and was dodging blockers with ease. As the White Knights weren't prepared for someone really fast, they were to slow off the blocks to properly block him. One player got close enough to push him out of bounds, but Sena stop dead for a half-second which caused the player go past him and out of bounds. Sena was going again before anyone figured out what happened. He was across the goal line by the time anyone was able to make a proper defense.

"Touchdown!"

The extra-point conversion didn't work but that they scored twice was something to celebrate. It was as Sena was exchanging high-fives with his teammates that he felt a shiver go down his spine. He turned towards the White Knights bench just as Shin stood.

"Hmph… So he's coming in, huh?" Hiruma observed. Sena felt a hard shove, pushing him towards the linebacker. "Hey there—so your rival makes his appearance. Go give him something to get riled up about!" Sena grunted as he stumbled forward. Standing up straight, Sena tilted his head and cracked his neck.

"Someone remind me why I joined this team?" Sena inquired rhetorically, rubbing his neck. Shin stood in front of him, glaring. Sena arched an eyebrow at the linebacker. "You shouldn't glare so much. It will give you wrinkles. And possibly an ulcer if you're not careful." With that Sena turned and walked back to his teammates. As he walked passed Hiruma, he swept his leg out and knocked the captain on his ass. He leveled a glare at the blonde teen, getting his point across without saying a word. He didn't like being used like that.

Shin watched as the smaller player walked away. It was almost as if the teen didn't care if his team won or not. Shin had to admit that the boy's attitude ticked him off more than he would like. Although watching Hiruma fall on his ass due to the small player was kind of funny.

Both teams got ready and began the next play. Sena faked going to the right and shot through the middle. Shin got past Kurita and was coming at him full speed. Sena was able to dodge around him but Shin reached out and latched on to him with one hand. Sena went down clutching the ball. _Ah, the dreaded Spear Tackle. You know that kinda hurt._ Sena thought, his side throbbing slightly.

Shin eyed the Deimon running back. The smaller player was muscular, but Shin didn't think that it came from being an athlete. His body was the general well build of someone that exercised daily, but didn't necessarily workout athletically. He would have to test his theory.

"With Shin in the game, we won't be able to go through the middle," Hiruma said during their next huddle. "All we can do is outrun them by going around to the right."

"Yeah, but… we can't hold Otawara back any longer," a lineman said tiredly. "Even if we double team him." Hiruma growled irritability.

"That's it!" he snapped. He pointed at Kurita. "Damn Fatty! You've got to stop Otawara and Shin!"

"That's ridiculous…" Kurita protested weakly. Sena listened to all this facing away and with half an ear. He was busy thinking up ways to get around Shin. He heard Hiruma yelling at a distance.

"_**ARE YOU LISTENING?" **_Knowing that the yell was for him, Sena waved a hand detachedly.

"Yeah, yeah." Hiruma frowned at the thoughtfully tone. It was clear that the younger player's mind was elsewhere. Hiruma followed Sena's gaze. His eyes landed on Shin. Green eyes narrowed slightly as their owner's mind whirled. _Hmm…_

Up in the stands, the dock brats were torn between being proud of their 'Little Wolf' and pissed at the lineman that tackled him. They didn't like that he could be hurt, but they also knew that it came with the game. Deruku had finally told them to shut up the talk about beating the teen up, saying that Little Wolf would have their heads for it. He directed a similar comment to the workers, since they were making the same comments. All of them shared the same belief when it came to Sena: pissing him off was bad.

Deruku watched as Sena gazed at number 40. Deruku could almost see the thoughts being processed and tossed as Sena discarded one idea after another. Deruku knew and believed that Sena would beat the taller linebacker. It would just take a while for him to do it. So Deruku would wait and watch. Watch for the miracle that is Sena, the Little Wolf of the Docks.

The next play was just like the last one. Sena took the ball and Shin went after him. When Shin got close, Sena protected the ball so that the lineman couldn't take the ball. However, that wasn't what Shin had in mind. Shin came up behind Sena and picked him up under the smaller teen's arms. Sena blinked once, looked down, and then sighed.

"Really?" Sena asked the taller player. Shin looked down at him. "Was this necessary? Especially since—" Sena swung both his legs back, between the taller teen's legs. "It didn't work!"

With an amazing show of gymnastics, Sena swung his legs up and over both their heads. Freeing himself in the process, Sena flipped over and behind the taller teen. Having kept the ball safely tucked against his body, Sena rocketed off as soon as his feet touched the ground. Around Shin and dodging Otawara, Sena was tackled by another player after that. Sena grunted as he got up and walked over to Hiruma.

"At least I blocked an interception," Sena said to the blonde as he passed him. Hiruma gave him a very dry look.

"Yeah, you block it alright. With gymnastics!" Hiruma blurted out. "I have never seen anyone do that in any situation." Sena shrugged.

"It's not against the rules," he patted Hiruma's shoulder comfortingly. "Relax. When I joined the team, you got a _wide_ range of skills. I'll write them down later, okay?" The blonde nodded.

The next few plays were an irritating show of Ojo's skills as they not only caught up but passed them in score. At half time the score was 35-12 in Ojo's favor. Sena had been Spear Tackled a couple of times now and his ribs ached. He quickly changed back into his regular clothes. He calmly walked up to the team.

"Great game guys! You're doing well," Sena congratulated the team like he had been watching the game, not playing it. "Keep up the good work." His teammates just waved at him, though a few gave him some disbelieving looks. Ishimaru looked around.

"Hey, where's Eyeshield 21?"

"I saw him heading to the bathroom," Sena lied easily. "There was a long line, so it might be a while. I'm sure he'll be as quick as he can." As his teammates nodded in agreement, Sena's eyes wandered. As his gaze hit the stands, Sena saw someone he really didn't want to see. He growled under his breath before he headed over to the stands.

Just as he passed the Ojo bench, he heard the coach of the White Knights yelling at them. Not liking the way he was degrading them, Sena made a minor detour to a water cooler that was nearby. He grabbed a cup of ice water and walked up behind the still yelling coach. With the aid of the bench, Sena dumped the water on the man's head.

"Telling them that their idiots doesn't help an iota," Sena coolly informed the man as he turned around. "All that does is undermine their confidence. Try some constructive criticism. Point out what they did wrong, then tell them how to fix it. I'm sure you'll find that it works better then yelling at them."

Sena smiled coldly at the stunned man before walking away to the stands. He left a shocked team behind him. No one has ever stood up to the Shoji before. The kid wasn't even a second year! Shin watched the kid walk away with narrow eyes. That physique was familiar. ..

Sena walked up to the top of the stands, coming to a stop next to a dark haired boy with dread-locks. Sena balled up his fists, leaving the middle knuckle up. Bringing both hands up to either side of the older boy's head, Sena drilled the knuckles back and forth. He got a satisfying yelp of pain from the boy. Sena let go and planted his fists on his hips as the dark haired kid turned around.

"Are you stalking me, Agon?" Sena demanded. "Because if you are, I will make that call." Agon's eyes widened at the sight of the small teen. The older teen smiled slightly, before shaking his head.

"No, I'm not stalking you," he said in a sugary voice. "I came to watch the game. Checking out the competition." Sena snorted before leveling an icy glare at the annoying bully.

"Lose the sugar, I'm not one of your hookers," Sena snarled out, making the Shinryuji players that were with Agon, one that looked surprisingly like the annoying boy, back up a bit. "That had better be all that you're here for. _All _of the dock brats and the dock workers are here, should I need them." Sena pointed to the section were his friends were looking at him with curiosity. Agon's eyes went huge at the sight of the dock brats and the workers, all of them looking his way. He swallowed hard before looking back at Sena.

"I promise I'm not here for anything other then the game," the taller boy's voice was sinecure. Sena studied him for a moment longer before nodding and walking back down to the field. Taking note of the time, Sena quickly hid and changed back into his uniform. He confidently strode to the team, once again Eyeshield 21.

"Ready to go?" he inquired of the team. Getting nods and calls of agreement, he stood next to Hiruma. Glancing at the captain, Sena nudged him.

"So what are our chances to win this?" Sena asked, gazing out across the field at the opposing team. Hiruma looked down at his ace then out at the field.

"It's about 0.1 percent of a chance," he said. "As long as it's not zero percent, we still have a chance."

"Very true," Sena agreed. "Let's win this." The captain's and ace's thoughts in sync, they stepped out on the field together when the teams were called back onto the field. Their positive attitude spread to the rest of the team, causing the Deimon team to step up their game. Everyone played harder making it harder for the White Knights to score. The White Knights played harder in response, the Devil Bats having as much difficulty scoring. The Knights scored once more as the clock got closer to the end of the game.

By this time Sena had been Spear Tackled several times. His ribs were a throbbing burn. He knew at least one was cracked and several were very bruised. He was going to have a hard time moving when the game was over. _I need to move a little faster. Just a little farther and I'll beat him._ Sena was determined to beat Shin.

Each run Sena did, he went faster. Shin caught him each time. Even when Sena spun around him instead of dodging out to the side. Shin was perplexed by this. The small player should be tired, almost exhausted. However, it was like he had just entered the game. He was getting faster with every play. Shin didn't know what to make of it.

"Damn chibi, go rest during defense," Hiruma said, pointing to the bench. "There's no hope for an interception at this point." Sena nodded and sat down. He watched as the Knights scored again. As he got ready for their offense, he saw Hiruma start to pack up his gear. A quick look around confirmed that no one else had seen the captain just yet. Moving quickly, Sena grabbed Hiruma's arm and dragged him around a corner so that they were out of sight.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sena demanded of the startled blonde. "The game isn't done yet."

"It's as good as," Hiruma snapped back. "Our chances are at absolute zero now. It's pointless to keep playing when you know there's no chance."

"So? We still have a chance to score one more time before the game ends," Sena glared at the teen. Hiruma glared back. "I just need a little longer. Just a bit more. I can beat him!" Hiruma blinked. Sena was so earnest that he was shaking slightly. "Shin, I mean. I can beat him. I just need to go a little faster."

Hiruma gazed at the small teen. Sena wasn't even looking at him anymore. He was looking at the field, where Shin was. Hiruma recognized the look. It was on Kurita's face when someone mentioned the Christmas Bowl. It was on his own when he thought about winning the tournament. The look of longing and determination to get what they wanted.

"So you really want to do it, huh..?" Hiruma asked. "…Beat Shin?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in Sena's answer. He wanted to beat Shin and he would. Even if he broke a couple of ribs in the process. Hiruma nodded, and put his helmet back on. They walked back to the team, Hiruma calling for them to huddle up as he did.

The next few play set the tone for the rest of the time. Sena and Shin faced off, Sena getting faster after every Spear Tackle. After one really hard tackle, Sena felt those cracked ribs break. It made it harder for him to breathe but he didn't say anything.

Sena went up the left side in the next play. He could feel Shin coming up behind him however, just in front of him, Sakuraba was on the field reaching for something. Sena was too close to come to a full stop, but he was able to slow his run down. The impact was lighter because of it and the slower time allowed Sena to switch his and Sakuraba's positions. He landed hard on in the little dig-out with Sakuraba on top of him.

"Oh noooo!"

"Sakuraba-kun!"

Sena carefully moved out from underneath the taller teen. He broke a couple more ribs in the fall, dislocated his shoulder, and to top off his list of injures, he heard a snap from the vicinity of his other shoulder. The on-site medic came over to check on them. Sena stood and waved him off.

"I'm fine. Just a few bruises," he claimed. "Check on him. I did hit him at a fast speed." With one last doubtful look the medic checked Sakuraba over.

"Yow!"

"It's bad," the man said to Shoji. "I think it's his collar-bone." Sena watched as Sakuraba's manager went nuts and drove the player off in his car. The girls in the stands went insane at that moment. The hollering cover the snapping sounds his ribs made when he popped them back into place. After that was done, he walked over to Hiruma.

"Here, hold my arm straight out," Sena instructed, gesturing to his dislocated arm. Once Hiruma had a firm hold of his arm, Sena twisted his body slightly then straighten and shoved against his arm at the same time. With a nasty crack, his shoulder popped back into place. He rotated it slightly, nodded, and walked towards the center field.

"He would have had me that time…" Sena mused out loud, deaf to the booing of the girls. "I just need to go a little faster." He joined the team huddle.

"Alright, we don't have a lot of time left," Hiruma said, an evil grin on his face. "Time for brute force. This time we're going to break through the middle. Run as fast as you can!" The last was directed at Sena. Nodding, everyone got ready. Hiruma set the ball and handed it to Sena. Kurita put all he could into opening a hole for Sena to run through and he succeeded. He took out Otawara and almost took out Shin at the same time. Shin got out of the way just in time to go after Sena.

Sena could once again feel Shin catching up to him. Sena worked his legs harder, going faster. Shin still was catching up though. _I WILL BEAT HIM!_ Just as Shin reached out to tackle him once again, Sena put on a burst of speed. He accessed the hidden speed that he never had a need to pull out. The 40-yard dash in 4.2 seconds; light speed.

He crossed into the end zone, barely conscious of doing so. He was in a lot of pain from his ribs and his other shoulder area. He stumbled to a stop and dropped to one knee. Breathing as deeply as he could, Sena forced the exhaustion and pain away. He stood in time for the team to surround him.

"I'm alright," he said, swaying slightly. "I can play."

"Bullshit," Hiruma snorted. "You're exhausted. Go rest." Just as Sena started to turn, Hiruma stopped him. "Hey, damn chibi. It only happened once. You only succeeded once, and you tried dozens of times, but you did it. You beat him!" Sena smiled all the way to the bench.

Watching the team was hard for him. Sena wanted to be out there with them. When Mamori gave him a drink, he smiled his thanks. He was too tired to say anything. He heard the whistle blow shortly after that. The White Knights had made another touchdown and there was no time left. The Ojo White Knights won 68-18. Deimon was eliminated from the Spring Tournament.

Kurita started crying at one point. Sena patted his arm and joined the team to go bow to Shogun. As they crossed back over to their side, Sena passed Shin. Shin gazed at the smaller boy as he walked up. There was no doubt in the linebacker's mind that Eyeshield 21 and the boy that scolded Shoji were one and the same. The boy had guts and was very strong in his own right. He was a worthy rival.

"Ojo's going to the Christmas Bowl." That was all that Shin said as he walked by Sena. Sena smiled.

"Deimon will be there waiting," was the reply that Shin received. Sena went to change. It took longer then the last two times since he had to favor his ribs and arms. Once changed, he joined the team again. He did his best to congratulate them on a good game, but everyone's spirits were low. At one point Hiruma shoved the T.V. camera crew away, saying something about new players.

Sena wasn't all that sure on what the captain said as at that point, he was walking in a haze of pain and exhaustion. He vaguely heard Mamori and Hiruma talk before he felt himself be guided around. He felt himself be settled in to a car, and then he didn't feel anything as he lost the fight and passed out.

Hiruma glanced down at the dark head that landed on his shoulder a second ago. Seeing that the kid had finally passed out, Hiruma left him alone and returned to gazing out the window. The damn chibi amazed him on many levels today. From knowing the dock brats to beating Shin. That gymnastic move that he did to get out of Shin's hold was shocking and unique.

Hiruma looked back down to study the small teen resting against him. The long hair fell across the exhausted face. Honey brown eyes were shut in unconsciousness. Hiruma recalled when the damn chibi shoved him against the wall to yell at him. Those eyes were light with a flame that turned them an amber color that was close to a wolf's eye color.

Thinking on that brought back when Sena went up into the stands to yell at Damn Dreads. Hiruma still found it hilarious that the Great Agon was afraid of the small Sena. Although watching the kid snarl at the Damn Dreads was kind of frightening. Hiruma knew that the damn chibi had a temper but he didn't really feel the need to witness it.

They were half way to the hospital when Hiruma heard a cell phone go off. Since the ring tone wasn't his, he assumed it was Sena's. Quickly locating it, Hiruma looked at the caller id. It read _Deruku_. Hiruma flicked it open and put it to his ear.

"Yeah?" A short pause followed.

"_Hiruma? Why are you answering Sena's phone? Where's Sena?" _the leader of the Dock D brats demanded. _"Did he get hurt playing?"_ Hiruma repositioned both the phone and Sena into more comfortable positions.

"I'm answering the damn chibi's phone because he passed out," Hiruma answered easily. "I'm taking him to the hospital to get checked out. He says that he's fine; however I don't believe a word of it. No one gets Spear Tackled that many times without getting a least some bruised ribs, and when he went crashing into the dig out? Yeah, there is no way in hell that he got just a few bruises." He heard a snort.

"_Yeah, that sounds like Sena. He doesn't like to make a fuss when he's hurt. He prefers to down play any injures he gets." _

"I'll keep that in mind," Hiruma promised, before seeing that they were arriving at the hospital. "We just got to the hospital. I'll keep you informed on what the doctors say." Hiruma closed the phone and stuck it in his pocket as the cab came to a stop. Not bothering to try and wake the unconscious teen, Hiruma picked him up and carried him inside bridal style. He was quickly able to persuade a doctor to check on the Deimon ace.

"He has six broken ribs, four cracked, the rest are bruised, and he's cracked his left shoulder blade," the doctor explained to Hiruma after a quick examination and x-ray of Sena's upper body. "He'll have to take it easy for a couple of weeks, but he'll be fine. We've wrapped his ribs so that they stay in place. I'd like him to stay over night for observation." Hiruma nodded and the doctor left. A quick call to the damn chibi's parents, a white lie about why he was in the hospital, and Hiruma was settling down in one the chairs next to the brat's bed.

As he waited for the brunette to wake up, Hiruma entered all the new information that he got on the kid into his lab-top. He was typing that Sena knew the dock brats when he remembered that he had to call the damn leader. Pulling out the chibi's cell phone, Hiruma scrolled through the contacts. Hiruma raised an eyebrow at the amount of names that were in the contact list. He hadn't realized that the chibi was so popular.

He got the damn leader's number and programmed it into his own phone so he didn't have to keep looking it up. He called and appraised Deruku of Sena's condition. Hearing that the damn chibi was going to be in the hospital didn't calm the dock brat but Hiruma didn't really give a damn. He did tell the damn leader that the team needed those photos as soon as possible. All he got in reply to that was a growl and the phone disconnecting.

Hiruma shrugged and went back to cataloging his new information. He had finished with the chibi's info and had moved on to the other team players when he heard a soft cough. Glancing up, his eyes connected with honey brown eyes. Sena gazed at him sleepily. Hiruma felt something inside him clench at the sight. He ignored it in favor of smirking at the tired brunette.

"Look who's joined the land of the living."

Sena tiredly blinked at the blonde demon. Deciding that it wasn't worth replying, Sena took stock of himself. His ribs ached and his shoulders hurt but nothing seemed overly wrong with him. With a grunt he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Hands on his arms stopped Sena from getting up.

"Where do you think your going?" Hiruma inquired mildly. Sena looked up at him then down at his arms. For some reason, Sena was very much aware of how warm those long hands were. He past it off as him being really tired, knowing that it was more then that.

"I'm going to head home," Sena answered at length. Hiruma snorted. "There's nothing wrong with me. I don't need to stay."

"You broke six ribs, cracked four, bruised the rest, and cracked your shoulder," Hiruma listed off. "I'd say that that means that something is wrong. The doctor wants you to stay overnight so you will. You're barely awake as it is." As he talked, Hiruma made him lay back down. Not that it was much of a fight to do so. Sena wasn't even aware that he was lying down until he was flat on his back.

"I don' wanna stay here," Sena pouted tiredly. Hiruma had to strangle the ridiculous urge to suck on that pout. Hiruma shook his head to clear it. Before he could argue with the brunette, he saw that Sena had fallen a sleep again. Shaking his head in amusement, Hiruma packed up his stuff, scribbled a note for the brat, and headed home. The kid will be fine alone, and he needed to get his head on straight.

Sena woke up the next morning feeling much more aware and in a lot more pain. The doctor prescribed him some pain meds and discharged him with the warning to take it easy. While he got dress he noticed the note left on the table.

_Damn Chibi,_

_Since I know you'll want to know, Sakuraba is in the same hospital as you. Room 418. If you go see him, DO NOT ruin the Eyeshield 21 image that I've built. He's suppose to have done that tackle on purpose. _

_Yeah, yeah, I know that you didn't do it on purpose, but the public doesn't need to know that. So go and apologize, but don't mess up my hard work. I already got the pictures from the damn dock leader so don't worry about getting those._

_Hiruma _

Sena shook his head. Only his team captain would take advantage of an accident like this. Shoving the note in his back pocket, Sena headed off to school in pain. His prescription wouldn't be done until after school and the pain killer that the nurse gave him to tie him over didn't mask all of the pain.

Knowing that he didn't have a lot of time before school started, he ran over to his other schools and dropped off his completed homework. While he was at each school, he arranged it so that he could pick up the whole week's worth of homework instead of having to come back every day.

Since he was short on time, he decided to take the express train instead of his usual one. He made it to the school with an hour to spare. As he walked towards the school, Sena heard Mamori call his name then felt a hard slap to his back. Barely able to keep from screaming in agony, Sena had to take a deep breath before he could greet Mamori.

"Hi, Mamori-nee-chan," he smiled tensely. Mamori narrowed her eyes at him.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" she asked, concern pour from her. Sena waved a hand dismissively.

"I'm fine. Just a little sore," he explained. "When Haruto-san got hurt, the girls in the stands jostled me around a little. I took some pain killers earlier, they just haven't kicked in yet." A little white lie never hurt anyone in Sena's opinion.

"Oh, okay," Mamori said, still a little suspicious. Luckily for him, Sena heard some noise coming from the clubhouse. Curiosity aroused, Sena walked over to see what was going on. Finding a construction crew working on the small building wasn't what he expected. Spotting Hiruma, Sena went over to him.

"What are they doing to the clubroom?" he inquired. Hiruma smirked evilly.

"It's being renovated. The principal is paying for it," Hiruma turned towards Mamori. "Hey, damn manager, did you finish editing the video?"

"Don't speak to me like that," Mamori said loftily as she pulled the tape from her bag and handed it to the blonde. Her thoughts at that point moved on to a similar topic.

"Oh yeah, may I see those photos you took in the stands?" she asked, turning towards Sena. Hiruma held up an envelope.

"I had them developed." As Mamori exclaimed over the different angles in the photos the blonde handed her, Hiruma handed the rest of the pictures to Sena.

"Here, get these in order by the end of school. Be sure to take it easy today," Hiruma warned in a low tone. Sena nodded and headed into the school. He settled into his seat with enough time to get most of the pictures in order. When the bell rang, he put them away and got out his books.

Lunch seemed to come quickly to Sena. Taking the lunch that Mamori had given him earlier up to the roof, Sena finished putting the pictures together. Just as he finished, Juumonji, Kuroki, and Toganou joined him up on the roof. He watched as they moved gingerly; obviously favoring sore muscles. He gave them a small smile in sympathy.

"So where were you today for morning practice?" Kuroki asked sourly. Sena didn't think that the dark haired boy was to thrilled with being in such a sore state.

"I was in the hospital," Sena calmly informed him. "I got thrown into one of the rails when those girls went insane. I bruised some of my ribs and Hiruma told me to make sure that I hadn't cracked any of them."

"Oh." Kuroki looked a little sheepish at that point. Sena watched Juumonji eye him suspiciously. The former bully would be hard to get around. Sena decided he would think on it later. They finished their lunch quickly and headed inside since it looked like it was going to start pouring at any second.

The rest of the day flew by for Sena. In no time at all, it seemed like he was waiting for Hiruma to show up to take the photos. As he waited Sena looked out the rain-pelted window, down at the field. He noted that the step ladder drill was still on the now muddy ground. He heard the door slam open.

"Aren't you finished with the photos, you damn chibi?" Hiruma yelled at him. Hiruma was in a very angry mood. Having to listen to the damn manager bitch at him for 'Poor Sena-kun' being hurt in the stands was just damn annoying. Not having the photos to look at wasn't helping either.

"We didn't come hear to rush you," Kurita said as he came in after Hiruma. "This is the only class room with a TV that we can use since the team room is closed to us." Sena smiled up at the big lineman.

"No worries. I was waiting for you guys to show up," he explained, holding the stack of photos up. "I'm finished with the photos. I don't know which classroom is yours' or I would have brought them to you." Sena watched as Hiruma set up the TV. He guessed that Hiruma made the school get it last year.

"Since you're done with the photos, head home," Hiruma pointed the remote at him. "Remember, the doctor said that you need to take it easy. I don't want to risk your ribs getting worse." Sena packed up his things, ignoring the part about the doctor. He did get a warm feeling over the fact that Hiruma was worried about him.

Sena headed outside to the field. He had been planning on putting the rope ladder away, but when he got there and saw that he had some time before he absolutely had to leave, he ditched his umbrella and jacket. He started doing the drill. Slowly at first, but getting faster with each repetition. And when he slipped and fell in the mud, he got right back up and did it again.

He had been at it for half an hour when he heard his name being called. Glancing up, Sena saw Deruku and Reuisu standing near the entrance to the field. He slowed to a stop and walked over to them.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, a little out of breath. His ribs were on fire now that the meds that the nurse gave him had worn off. "What are you two doing here?"

"Hiruma gave me a call," Deruku informed him. "He told me that you had orders to take it easy from the doctor and that you weren't exactly doing that. I asked Reuisu-san to give me a ride to pick you up." Sena scolded slightly.

"Tattle-tale," he muttered. Deruku and Reuisu laughed.

"I think he was just concern, Sena-kun," Reuisu corrected. "Now come on. Let's get you dry." They gathered up Sena's things and put the ladder away. Getting in the manager's car, Sena remember that he had to get his pain meds and his school work from Ojo and Shinryuji. When he told them that he had to go get them, Reuisu told him that he would drive him to go get them. Since the schools were closer, they went to get the homework first.

Getting his work from Shinryuji was surprisingly easy. No one bothered him, though he did get some odd looks from the students that were still there. Not wanting to know, Sena ignored this behavior. Getting his homework from Ojo was a different matter.

For some reason, there were a lot of older kids hanging around the front of the building. Seeing all those kids, Deruku got out with Sena and ignored the protest of "I don't need a babysitter!" While the older kids didn't bother them on the way in, they did stop the dock brats on the way out.

"What are pathetic rats like you doing here?" one of them sneered. Deruku raised a very annoyed eyebrow.

"Getting some paperwork," he sneered right back. "What else would we be doing in a grand total of five minutes?" The older teens had both angry and confused expressions on their faces. Evidently no one has stood up to them before.

"Hey brat, don't you know who I am?" the boy, who seemed to be in charge of the group, asked. Sena knew, mostly because he read the paper. The kid was some big CEO's only child and heir. Very few people had the gumption to talk back to the kid. Since those people were his parents, Sena fully believed that there was going to be fight.

"I don't know," Deruku informed the now shocked kid, and before he was informed about the status of the rich brat, "and I don't care. You're standing in our way, and we have places to be." Sena had to say; he never seen that shade of plum before. Up went the kid's fist, down went the kid. Deruku was all about the hitting first and hitting hard.

Sena joined in when the rest of the group of fifteen rich kids jumped to help their leader. The fight lasted maybe ten minutes but in that time it gain the attention of Reuisu, the kids' parents waiting in their limos, the teachers, the principal, and the football team on their run. As the last kid went down, the first parent came running up.

As their parents babied them and demanded that they be punished for hurting their precious babies, Sena and Deruku wandered over to Reuisu. The manager just stood with his hands on his hips, grinning and shaking his head in amusement. The three of them watched as the principal and teachers tried, and failed, to calm the parents. Sena had to admit that it was funny watching them all, but he couldn't' really appreciate it since his injuries were making it hard to breathe.

As he watched, Sena saw the football team standing back out of the way. Among them was Shin, who was staring at him. Sena nodded to him in a silent greeting, before his attention was moved back to the quieted group.

"What happened here?" the principal demanded to know. Fights didn't happen on his campus. Not with the rich children, anyway; none that he heard of. He did notice that they had a tendency to bully the kids that were on scholarships. Since he had no real proof of it he couldn't do anything about it.

"Those little heathens hurt our babies," one mother shrieked out. Sena spoke before he thought.

"Damn woman. Could you possibly get any more shrill?" Clearly, his filter between his thoughts and his mouth stopped working when he was in severe pain. When the woman gasped in outrage, he noticed that several of the parents had to rub their noses. Deruku and Reuisu didn't even bother to hide their grins. The principal coughed and cleared his throat.

"Now Kobayakawa-kun, that wasn't polite," he scolded softly, the twinkle in his eyes belying the tone. "She's just concerned about her son. Now tell me what happened."

"Deruku and I were leaving the campus when he," Sena pointed at the leader, who happened to be the woman's son, "stopped us and asked, I quote, 'What are pathetic rats like you doing here?' in a very snide tone. Deruku, taking exception to the tone and being called a rat, informed him that we were getting some paperwork and inquired, again quote, 'What else would we be doing in a grand total of five minutes?' He also used a very snide tone, I believe in retaliation." Several of the football players and parents had to clear their throats to keep from laughing.

"Then he," Sena gestured to the boy again, "asked if we knew who he was. Deruku informed him that no, he didn't know and that he didn't care. He then said, quote, 'You're standing in our way, and we have places to be.' At that point, he," again gesturing, "raised his fist, with the intent to hit us by-the-by. Deruku, however, never was one to stand there and take it. When the ring leader of your kids went down, the rest and I joined in. That about sums it up."

By the time Sena finished explaining what happened in his very matter- of- fact tone, several of the parents were giving their children some very hard looks. The woman, however, clearly didn't believe him.

"You filthy little liar," she hissed at him. "My Tombo is an angel! He wouldn't hurt a fly!" Sena, Deruku, and Reuisu all raised an eyebrow at that blatant show of maternal blindness. The principal stepped in at that point.

"Mai-san, there is no reason for you to be so hostile," he informed the irate woman. "Kobayakawa-kun was just giving us his side of the story. If Tombo-kun's side differs then we should hear his side. Tombo-kun? Do you want to add something?"

It was clear that k was going to give a very different, and damning to Sena and Deruku, version about the fight when another car pulled up. When the man stepped out, Tombo suddenly went very quiet. His mother, on the other hand, went very loud.

"kj! Come and look at your son! These little brats," at this point she sent a poisonous look towards them, "hurt my baby!" The man that walked over looked his son over then looked Sena and Deruku over. He zeroed in on Sena.

"I'm sorry to have missed your game yesterday, Sena-kun," he said to the amazement of his wife, and everyone around. "I trust that it went well?" Sena beamed up at him.

"As well as can be expected, Marukusu-sama," Sena bowed respectfully to the man. "Deimon lost 68-18, but it was a good game. Did you finish payroll?"

"Thankfully, yes," Marukusu sighed out, before he grimace. "Not that it got rid of any of the paperwork on my desk." Sena laughed. Mai-san latched on to her husband's arm.

"You know this… this heathen?" she shrilly asked. Sena watched in vast amusement as Marukusu gave the irritating woman a contempt-filled look.

"Yes, I know him. I know all three of them. They work for me, the younger ones in a different fashion," he stated quite clearly and calmly. Those who hadn't left yet and knew what Marukusu did for a living quickly connected the dots. His wife did as well. She gasped and turned horrified eyes towards them. When all they did was smile, she swayed slightly. Because there was one thing that she knew, that she really didn't want to know right at that moment.

Dock brats don't lie when it comes to fights. They're proud of each and every one of their fights. They like to have very detail as truthful as possible, and for one reason only. They never lose. Every fight a dock brat goes into; they go in it with the intention to win. Why lie about what happened in a fight that you won? Especially since you've never lost one?

That's why she was feeling a little faint. Since Sena was a dock brat, the version that he told was the truthful version. Which means her baby was going to hit an underclassman, just because he didn't like the response he got.

As his wife wrung her hands, Marukusu turned to look at his son. Tombo wasn't as confident now that his dad was here. His dad didn't let him get away with anything. Since the kids he was going to beat up were dock brats, he was in even more trouble now. He hadn't bothered to check their wrists and now he had to suck up the beating that he got instead. Life officially sucked for one Marukusu Tombo.

With a slight gesture of his hand, Marukusu sent his son and wife to their car. He would deal with them at home. He similarly dealt with the remaining parents and teachers. Turning back to his manager and dock brats, he frowned slightly at Sena's labored breathing. Knowing that the teen had received some rough treatment the day before, he gestured for him to leave as well. Reuisu caught his eye as he left with Little Wolf and Deruku. A slight nod and he knew he would get the full story later.

Sena caught Shin's eye has he left and smiled apologetically. Sena had wanted to talk to the linebacker before he left but with the way that he was in pain, that wasn't going to happen. Shin nodded back in reply and went back to his run. Sena walked as normally as he could to Reuisu's car. He slid into the back and hoped that the ride to the pharmacy went by fast.

Sena was in a pain-filled haze by the time they reached the hospital. Reuisu took one look at the out-of-it teen and went to get the pain meds himself. Getting a water bottle from a vending machine on his way out, Reuisu read and opened the pill bottle. Opening the back door, he popped one of the large pills in Sena's mouth.

"Sena-kun, come on. I need you to swallow this," he urged quietly. With a little more coaxing he was able to get Sena to swallow the pill and some water to wash it down. He closed the door and got back in the front. He put the now closed pill container in the teen's back pack and started the drive to Sena's house.

They were almost at the small teen's home when Sena's pain had ebbed enough for him to be aware of his surroundings. He looked around and, seeing that they were on his street, grabbed his bag. Slowing to a stop in front of the house, Reuisu rolled down his window. Sena got out and turned back to them.

"Thanks for helping me today," he said, tiredly. "I guess I did go a little overboard today. I'll try to take it easier tomorrow. Promise." He smiled at them and received two return. He headed inside as they drove off. His mom, thankfully, wasn't home. His dad was though.

"Hey, son. Are you alright?" Shuma asked, concerned. "Your team captain called. He said that while you were in the stands some of the fans went a little insane, and you were hurt. That he took you the hospital to be looked at. Is that true?"

"Yeah, I was shoved into a rail pretty hard," Sena said soothingly. "The doctor said that I had bruised several of my ribs and cracked a couple. He gave me some pain killers and told me to take it easy. It should be healed up in a couple of weeks. I overdid it today, but I took a pain med so it's not too bad. I think I'm going to call it a night though." Shuma nodded and made a light dinner for Sena to eat in his room.

Sena took a quick bath to sooth his sore muscles and then did his homework for the week. Once that was out of the way, he ate dinner and laid down. The pill he took was totally kicking his ass right about now. He watched as the ceiling not only spin but tilted sideways. Closing his eyes didn't help either. Deciding not to fight sleep, Sena took as deep a breath as he could and relaxed. _You know as much as the game hurt, it was a lot of fun. Maybe playing football isn't so bad. Hiruma isn't that bad either. _Sena smiled at that last thought and fell asleep.

~Tada! All done. And I've started on the next chapter as well. All good, all good. So I hope you all liked it. Reviews please? Pretty please? ~


	8. Monta and Rui

+ So I'm doing well with my muse. It's wonderful. I'm sorry that it took so long for me to get going on this but life interfered. I've been writing it down in a notebook, so I just have to type it out. Not that hard.

Moving on to the show! +

**Disclaimer:** I DON'T OWN ANYTHING IN THIS FAN-FICTION! Well, I own the original characters, but that's it. SO NO SUING ME!

Speech - "Blah"

Thoughts – _Blah_

Random Things I Will Do – **Blah**

The next few days went in a smooth routine. Sena got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, took a pain pill, went to football practice where he wasn't allowed to do anything that involved the ball, went to class, had lunch, took another pain pill, finish school, and went to football practice where he was once again wasn't allowed to do anything. It was rather aggravating not being able to do anything with the team.

Four days after the game, Sena was totally fed up with the situation. He didn't like not being able to do anything. Every time he tried to do something both Hiruma and Mamori stopped him, or Hiruma, the big tattle-tale, called Deruku and he came to make sure that Sena didn't do anything. As he walked to school that morning, he practiced holding and protecting a football that he had grabbed from the holding bind.

Thump!

Sena glanced down to look at a baseball that had landed at his feet. "Hey, a little help! The ball!" Sena looked up to see a ball-boy waving his hand. Picking up the baseball, Sena tossed it to him. As Sena started walking again, he was bumped from behind by a passing student, and the football in his hand went flying. Up and towards an oncoming semi-truck.

"Shit!" Before Sena could even think about running forward, the baseball player leaped up and neatly caught the ball fifteen feet in the air. "Wow. Thanks for getting that," Sena smiled as he walked up to the teen. "That was a great catch. You must be on the first string right?"

"Nah. I'm just the ball fetcher right now," the boy said, rubbing his nose which had a bandage across the bridge. He was the same height as Sena. He had dark, spiky hair and dark brown eyes. He looked a little bit like a monkey. "So you play rugby?"

"No, I play football. That's the ball we use," Sena explained, showing him the right way to hold the ball. "A rugby ball looks more like a basketball, just red." They chatted about the gripping of the football for a little while longer, until another player yelled for the boy to get moving.

"We have a scrimmage today if you feel like it, come and watch," the teen yelled as he was dragged away. Sena watched with amusement. Shaking his head, he headed towards the clubhouse. He passed construction workers as he did. _The renovations must be done_, he thought. He didn't really pay any attention to the clubhouse as he walked up, but he paid attention to the inside right away.

"Wow…if I didn't know better, I'd say that I had walked into a casino." He quickly backed out to look at the outside of the building. It did indeed look like a casino had taken over the club. "What the heck?" Sena glanced over to his right when he heard another person speak in sync with him. There stood Mamori holding some rolled up posters.

"Oh, good morning," Sena smiled up at his nee-san. "What are those posters?" She held one up. "Our secret weapon. Ta-daa!"

"Hey, are these done?" Hiruma appeared behind her and snatched the poster from her hand, ignoring the "Hey!" from Mamori. He unrolled the poster to display it. Sena looked it over, smiling in approval. It wasn't too bad. "The Ojo game will be on TV tonight. Timed with that, these will help with recruiting. And we've got a gussied up clubhouse too."

"Gussied up is one way to put it…" said Kurita from behind Hiruma.

"It's amazing…" Mamori agreed hesitantly.

"You know it somehow seems bigger on the inside," Sena mused out loud.

"We've got to get a full roster of players who practice as part of the team," Hiruma changed the subject much to the amusement of Sena. "If we showed up as we are now, we will lose for sure."

"Right—at the very least we need a receiver," Kurita nodded in agreement. "It's no good if none of us can catch passes." Sena thought back to early when that kid caught the football that morning. He would have to ask if that boy could be on both teams.

"If we're going to train someone, he may as well be tall," Hiruma put in. "That can be all the advantage a receiver needs." Sena ignored that statement. He knew that the boy's jumping ability was a gem. He was going to look at the rule book to see if a player could play on both teams.

"All right, hang these up are the school," Hiruma said as he passed out the posters. "Twenty posters per person."

"Don't we need permission to hang these up?" Sena asked absently, still thinking about the baseball kid.

"Just hang them up!" Hiruma snapped. "_**I say**_ it's ok!"

"I got permission from the student committee!" Mamori put in quickly.

Sena checked the student board, but found it too full. He just began hanging them up wherever he thought that students would see them. He had just finished putting up his last one in his homeroom, hoping that they would bring in recruits, when he notice some writing in the TV. It read _'Go For It! The Christmas Bowl 1-2 Kurita Hiruma Musashi."_

"Who's Musashi?" Sena asked out loud before he remembered an off handed comment Kurita had made about having three players for the first time in a long time. _I guess someone quit. I wonder why._ He looked out the window, thinking that it must have been lonely going off on his own. He saw the baseball team playing that scrimmage and decided to see if that kid would play for both teams.

He trotted down to the field to watch. It was amazing how that kid could catch every ball. But his passing left much to be desired. A ball went flying passed Sena's head when the brunette tried to return a ball to the home plate. He moved over to a safer side behind the fence. He continued to watch the scrimmage until the end.

He waited until the players had left before he went to look for the team's ball-boy. Sena didn't find him so much as he found Sena. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Sena heard called out behind him. He turned to see the boy from this morning there. "Did you come to watch me play?"

Sena smiled and nodded. "I watched you. I'm really impressed with your catching ability." Sena's smile turned a little rueful. "Your passing and batting weren't quite as up to code." The kid scratched his nose, looking embarrassed. "I know. I'm really good at catching because I practiced at it all the time. I want to be a hero like my personal hero, Honjo!"

"It's good that you have a goal, but in baseball don't you need to be good at everything? Not just catching?" Sena asked. The other brunette's cheeks turned red. "Yeah, usually," he conceded. "But Honjo didn't win the game by hitting the ball! He did by catching the ball!" Sena sighed.

"Look, I'm not saying that he's not a great player. Obviously he is, I'm just saying he didn't just focus on catching. Anyway, I'm Kobayakawa Sena. Pleased to meet you." Sena bowed politely. The other boy quickly bowed back. "I'm Taro Raimon. Pleased to meet you."

Sena did some quick thinking. "Alright, I was going to ask if you wouldn't mind play on the football team as well as the baseball team. I don't want to steal you away from your dream, don't think that! But I think that you would do really well on our team." Raimon frowned at him. "Why would I do well on your team?"

"Because unlike baseball where you need to be good at everything, in football you only need to be great at one thing! In your case, catching!" Sena beamed. "You don't have to make up your mind right now. There's a game on tonight if you want to see what I mean." Sena turned to go but stopped when something occurred to him.

"Oh, if you see anything about Eyeshield 21 on it, know that at least 50% of it is a lie," Sena cautioned. "My team captain is big on bluffs and on building images. So he'll try to make anything and everything seem bigger that what it was." With that, Sena turned and left.

He went back to the clubhouse. There, he joined Mamori and Kurita in making recruiting applications. He didn't pay much attention to what he was doing after a while since it was real easy. At one point, he was positive Hiruma said something to him, may have even shot at him, but he didn't really care. Mamori was there and would stop anything Hiruma would try to do to him.

He spent most of the time thinking of anything that might make Raimon join the team. Even when Hiruma made a big screen TV roll down from the ceiling, he didn't really care. Mostly because he wasn't surprised by anything Hiruma did at this point. He ignored the game as well. He played in it; he didn't need to watch it.

He left to go home shortly after the game finished. Well, more like he was sent home by his personal mother-hen. Hiruma informed him that he was to go home or else. Which, of course, meant the captain would call Deruku. Sena actually growled irritably at the blonde teen. Hiruma had gotten a really funny look on his face when the small brunette did that.

At home, Sena did one of his easier karate workouts to keep in shape. He was doing some cool down stretches when his dad called to him. "Sena, you have a visitor," Shuma said. "Do you want me to send him back?" Sena nodded.

He sat on the ground to do one last leg stretch when the back door opened. Glancing up, Sena's stare turned into a very angry glare. Agon stood in the doorway. He hesitated before walking over to and stopping front of Sena.

Sena's glare didn't let up for a second. Agon stood there with Sena glaring at him for about five minutes before he sat down on the ground in front of Sena. Agon didn't look like he usually did. He wasn't confident, or giving off an evil aura. He was nervous and looking off to the side. Agon was uncomfortable, and he couldn't believe that he was here to do the very thing that he promised himself that he wouldn't do.

"Willyoubemyfriend?" Agon said in a rush. Sena frowned, more puzzled than angry now. "Could you say that again? A little more slowly and clearly this time," Sena said. Agon cleared his throat.

"Will you be my friend?" Agon asked more clearly. His cheeks burned a brilliant red. He glanced at Sena then looked away again. Sena's face showed his shock and skepticism. Agon really couldn't believe that he was doing this. He didn't have friends. He had terrified teammates and opponents. Friends were something he had never needed. He had his brother, which had been enough.

Then he met Kobayakawa Sena, a petite brunette that didn't care who he was. Sena, who had the balls to drill his knuckles into Agon's head and glare at the taller teen. Sena, the only person that in the world that Agon even felt need to have as his friend. Agon didn't understand it.

"You want me to be your friend?" Sena asked slowly. When Agon nodded, he went on. "I don't see why. It's not like we get along. If it's because you want to be friends with a dock brat, you can leave right now. I'm not going to put up with someone using me, I can tell you that right now."

Agon shook his head. He took a moment to organize his thoughts and began to explain about his life. How at an early age, his athletic talents had shown through. How his parents fond over him and ignored his brother, who didn't have the same abilities. How all the schools had competed to get him to attend. How as he grew older, he grew angrier and angrier at everyone for not paying any attention to his older twin. Who worked twice as hard to make sure that he could play his favorite sport.

He explained about how he got accepted into Shinryuji, and his brother didn't. How that had shattered his brother. He told Sena about how he had gone to the school and told them that he would only go to their school if they took his brother as well. The school had agreed, and now they were both on the football team. He explained that the team was scared of him, and that he was fine with that. As long as they respected his brother, he didn't have any issues with them fearing him.

He explained about how on the day that they met, and again on the game between Deimon and Ojo, he had felt some shock and confusion about Sena. Agon could count on one hand the amount of times that he was confused. It didn't sit well with him and he wanted to understand why he felt that way. He had no idea why he wanted Sena as a friend, but he did. He just…..needed Sena understand that!

After this explanation and Agon's rather uncharacteristic outburst, Sena was quiet. He studied the older teen for a while. Weighing what he said against what Sena had observed. He had notice that Agon's teammates were very frightened of him. His brother was the only one that spoke to Agon like he was human.

Sena had made his decision around the same time Agon was about to stand and leave. "I'll be your friend," he said, freezing Agon in his place. "Understand this, I won't put up with being called trash or having my team put down. If I don't like what I'm hearing, I'll say so. Trying to beat me up isn't going to win you any points with anyone, either." Agon nodded, but Sena wasn't done yet.

"If you truly want me to be your friend, you're going to have to get used to the fact that I will be truthful with you," Sena warned. "I won't tell you what you want to hear. I'll tell you straight up what I think. If you don't like it, that's just too damn bad. I hope that's clear enough for you."

Agon smiled a real smile. "Thank you." That was all he said for the rest of the time he was there. Sena brought him inside and led Agon to his room. Gesturing for him to wait there, Sena got his bathing supplies and showered.

Dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a muscle shirt fifteen minutes later, Sena and Agon settled to play some games on his game console. They played until Sena's mother came up to ask if Agon was going to stay for dinner. He politely declined, and headed home. Sena exchanged nods and phone numbers with him before he left.

Dinner was a quick affair as his mom and dad were going to a movie that night. Sena had already finished his homework for the week, so he didn't have to do that. He decided to go to bed early. As he fell asleep, Sena came to the conclusion that if tomorrow went the same as the past for days, he was going to go practice with Rui-kun. Or maybe even Shin-san.

School the next day was amusing for Sena. Listening to everyone's different opinions about Eyeshield 21 was a lesson on how people are really gullible. Sena was changing his shoes out when he hear someone call his name. "Hey Sena-kun!" Turning, Sena smiled and wave at Raimon.

"Hi there!" Sena watched as the monkey-ish boy reached to get his shoes with one of his feet. "I saw it… last night on TV." Sena waited for him to put on his shoes before his opinion was announced. "That Eyeshield guy is a real jerk!" Raimon stated with on conviction. "First he injures a guy. Then he—"

Sena cut him off at that point. "You do remember that I said that at least 50% of the things you will hear about Eyeshield is a lie, right? The tackle was an accident. It's just the captain trying to hype everything up." Raimon got this thinking look on his face. "You sure?" Sena nodded. "Positive. Besides, you never met the kid. How could you know how he is?"

Raimon nodded. "Good point. Oh, wasn't the game against Koigahama your first victory?" Sena confirmed that it was. "Let's celebrate! To your first victory! And to me making first string!"

"Oh, you got the results already? I thought they didn't post it until after school," Sena said, a little confused. Raimon sighed, pouting a little. "You're right. To tell the truth, first string is a little much to hope for. But I can probably work my way up from second string." He perked up a bit. "No negative thoughts allowed!" he said starting to dash off. "Meet me at the baseball team room after school!" Sena waved his acknowledgement.

His classes went by quickly for Sena, and in no time at all he was heading over to the baseball club room. When he arrived, he was surprised to see that there was no one around. Shrugging, he went to the board and looked for Raimon's name. When he found it, Sena frowned. It was under the third string listing. He had thought that with his catching skills, Monta-kun would be on second string at least. Sena had decided to give Raimon a nickname.

The clubroom door opened, revealing a player and the coach. "Hey, how come he's on third string?" Sena pointed to Monta's name. "I mean, in know he's not up to par on passing or hitting, but he's really good at catching. The other two can be worked on."

The coach sneered. "The team doesn't need anyone that's only good at one thing. The third string are just club enthusiasts." It was clear to Sena that the man didn't think much of people that lived and breathed their chosen sport. The problem with that was _Sena _didn't think much of people that held kids back from their dreams.

"It's too bad the team also doesn't need a coach that doesn't give a damn, huh?" Sena smiled sweetly. He gave a, barely, polite bow to the gob-smacked coach and player. He left quickly. He didn't want to be around when they came out of the shock. He headed to see if Hiruma had anything for him to do.

As he walked up, the door to the clubhouse slid open. "Bombard any tall guys with flyers," Hiruma was saying as Sena reached them. Hiruma, Mamori, and Kurita were each holding a stack of flyers. He went to take some as Mamori left but Hiruma took the small stack from him almost immediately.

"You don't have to hand those out!" Hiruma snapped. "You'll hang them up in the most useless places…" Sena arched an eyebrow at Hiruma and crossed his arms. He stared at the tall blonde, silently daring him to continue with that statement. Hiruma cleared his throat. "Instead you're going to train," he switched topics, pulling out a rope and tying it around Sena's waist.

Hiruma tied the other end to Cerberus's collar. The dog was barking and pulling against the chains holding him in place. "I wonder why he's all riled up…" Hiruma said pulling out the key. As he unlocked the chains, Sena pulled out his pocket knife and cut the rope that connected them. He did grab the portion still attached to the dog so that it didn't run off buy itself.

Cerberus shot forward when the padlock was removed but when he couldn't continue after a few feet, he turned around to see why. Sena stood firmly in place with his arms crossed. The dog and running-back stared at eachother. Cerberus sat down and waited. Sena turned his stare to the shocked captain and linebacker.

"Care to explain why I was going to be dragged down the street by Cerberus?" Sena asked sweetly. Hiruma hid a wince. He knew that if Sena talked in a sweet tone he was very angry. "You collapsed after you ran the 40 in 4.2 seconds," Hiruma said. "I want your legs to get used to the feel of it." Sena nodded slowly. "That makes sense. All you had to do was say so. Next time just hand me the rope so I can go running with Cerberus."

Hiruma inclined his head in understanding. He kept forgetting that Sena isn't one of his usual players, only there because he threatened them. He didn't want to lose the small running-back due to his stupidity. The kid was their last chance to get to the Christmas Bowl. Hiruma ignored the little voice in the back of his mind saying that he didn't want to lose Sena just because of that.

Sena nodded to them and headed off with Cerberus. The dog was leading the way and Sena let him as he didn't care where they went as they ran. The pace was pretty fast, not quite as fast as Hiruma wanted but Cerberus didn't really know how far he could push the small player. The dog sensed that Sena wasn't in full health and couldn't be pushed as normal.

Sena saw where, or rather, who they were headed for in time to stop Cerberus from biting on tender portions. Monta smiled in gratitude at him before letting Cerberus have some of the snacks he had bought. Sena sat down next to him and let Monta tell him what was wrong. Hearing him say that he wasn't an athlete made Sena even madder at the baseball coach. Sena really didn't like that man.

"You know just because one person doesn't like how you do things doesn't mean that you have to give up your dream," Sena said, interrupting Monta's pity party. "You want to be a great catcher and hero right?" At Monta's nod Sena continued. "So become one. It doesn't have to be in baseball that you succeed in. It can be any sport. Like I said earlier, I would love it if you join the football team. We could really use a catcher with your skills. And besides, I really dislike that coach of yours'. He's an ass." Sena frowned at the thought of that man.

Monta smiled a little at Sena's obvious dislike. "Not many actually do. Not even on the team." Monta sat in thought for a while. It surprised him that someone actually wanted him on their team. Wanted him and was actively recruiting him for their team. That alone was appealing to him. The more he thought about what Sena had said, the more he began to realize that the brunette was right. He didn't have to be on the baseball team to achieve him dream.

"You're right you know. I don't have to be on the baseball team to reach my dream," Monta said slowly. "Alright, I'll join your team." Sena grinned happily. "Really? Great! Come on, let's go get you set up." They collected Cerberus and the rest of the snacks. They headed back towards the school. Once there, they noticed that there were several tall teens on the ground, some under a pile of flyer, others rubbing sore spots.

Sena shook his head. Hiruma was going about recruiting all wrong. _I mean, really. You would think that he would understand that bombarding kids with flyers and no clarification won't get him the results that he wants._ Sena was glad that he knew how to talk to people. He led Monta to the clubhouse. They got there the same time that Hiruma and Kurita got there.

"Hey, damn chibi-kun. Who's this?" Hiruma growled out. There weren't any tall freshmen that could catch worth a damn. Hiruma's irritation level was really high at that moment. Sena blinked at him and tilted his head. Hiruma had to suppress another growl. The little brunette was far too cute for Hiruma peace of mind.

"This is Taro Raimon. He was with the baseball team, but they were just using him as a ball-boy," Sena introduced Monta. "He's really good at catching. I thought that we could use him as a receiver." Hiruma stared at the two freshmen. He had forgotten that Sena was a great recruiter. He wondered if the small brunette would ever stop surprising him.

"Alright, we'll test him," Hiruma decided. "Down to the field." As they all trooped down to the field, Monta leaned over to Sena. "He's a little scary," he whispered. Sena just smiled and shook his head. Sena found Hiruma's scariness kind of cute. It was also comforting. If Hiruma was acting scary, there was nothing wrong. It was when Hiruma wasn't acting scary that Sena was going to worry.

Down on the field, Hiruma walked away from them with a bin of footballs. Sena and Kurita moved away from Monta as well, so that they were out of the firing range. Out of nowhere, Hiruma started throwing balls at Monta. Every one of them, he caught. No matter how high or where it went, Monta caught it. By the time that the bin was empty, Hiruma was grinning like a loon.

"Ya-Ha! Great find damn chibi-kun!" Hiruma walked back towards them. After confirming that Monta was indeed going to join the team, they went back to the clubhouse. Mamori was out front sweeping. Sena headed her off before she could accuse Hiruma of forcing Monta to join. While he had her distracted, Hiruma got Monta set up with a jersey, pads, and a helmet.

Everyone left shortly after that. Sena stopped at a burger place along the way since it was so late and got some burgers. He didn't really want to cook. He ate as he walked. Along the way he spotted Agon. Sena watched him for a minute, to make sure that he wouldn't be interrupting anything. See that Agon was just lounging against the wall, Sena walked over. "Hey."

Agon turned and looked at him. A small smile graced his features. "Hey, what's up?" he asked. Sena shrugged, having just taken a bite of his burger. He offered the burger bag to Agon. The bigger teen accepted the silent offer and took a burger. The two of them ate in a comfortable silence. When the bag was empty, Sena balled it up and threw it in a near-by trash can.

Sena smiled at Agon. With a nod of his head, Sena headed home. Agon fell into step with him. Sena glanced at the taller teen but didn't say anything. Agon was glad. He didn't want to admit that he was walking Sena home. The neighborhood wasn't the safest one at night. Everyone that are out at night knew better than to mess with him.

While Agon was completely aware that Sena was fully able to protect himself, Agon knew that he had gotten hurt during Deimon's last game. Sena wasn't at his best and Agon would feel like shit if something happened to the small teen when he could have prevented it.

At Sena's house, Agon nodded to him and continued walking. Sena nodded back and went inside. His mom was still in the kitchen, doing the dishes from the sounds of it. His dad was in the living room reading a newspaper. Shuma looked up and gave a small smile. He gestured with his head for Sena to head up stairs. Sena nodded and headed up to the shower.

As Sena laid down on his bed, he had to smile. Agon was very much a surprise. He hadn't expected to have him walk him home. The taller teen was holding up to his end of the friendship deal. At least he didn't threaten him. Sena was rather pleased with that. He fell asleep smiling.

Sena walked to school the next morning in a much better mood than he did yesterday. He didn't need to take a pain pill this morning and his shoulder didn't hurt as much as it has the past week. Walking up to the clubhouse, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Poking his head in, Sena had to grin. Inside was Monta with his gear on.

"Hey! It looks good on you," Sena said has he walked in completely. "Want to start practice?" Monta nodded. "First, we're going for a run. We need to see how fast you are at the forty yard run." They walked down to the field and got ready to run the forty. "Ready?"

"Set," Monta got into position. "GO!" They took off together. Sena had grabbed a stopwatch when he headed out of the clubroom. Sena started it and kept pace with his new teammate. At the end of the run, Monta's time was 5.0 seconds. While they were doing the run, Hiruma, Kurita, and Mamori had arrived. Sena knew that Juumonji and his friends were in detention that morning. Hiruma motioned for them to follow him to the weight room.

Mamori was set off to get some more towels. Hiruma lifted leg weights. Kurita was working on the bench-press. Sena and Monta started doing some neck stretches. As Sena did the stretches, his shoulder and ribs started hurting. Most of the stretches pulled on the muscles surrounding them. During last of the stretches, his shoulder gave out. He fell straight down on the mat, right as Mamori walked in.

He grimaced as she came over and fussed over him. "I'm alright," he waved her off. He watched as Kurita and Monta interacted. Kurita was helping Monta with his shoulder. Sena had to smile. Kurita looked so much happier. Hiruma broke in at that point. "Hey damn pip-squeaks—work on strengthening your necks…Otherwise you'll get kill in the next game." Sena looked at him, his skepticism plain. Hiruma ignored him in favor of getting the newspaper from Cerberus.

"THOSE DAMN SCRUBS!" Hiruma threw the paper down in a fit of anger. Sena and Monta picked up the paper to read why Hiruma was so angry. The first thing that they saw was that there was a crime wave at the river front. While Monta speculated that the robberies were done by some of the students at Zokugaku, Sena made a mental note to ask Rui-kun about it.

"Not that article!" Hiruma snapped, bonking their heads together lightly. "Look on the Sports page!" Changing the page, Sena was surprised to see that Ojo's next game didn't go as well as the game against them. The score was 7-6 in their favor. Sena assumed that the score was what really rankled Hiruma.

"That's a really close game!" Kurita said, looking over their shoulders. Hiruma fumed, "Now we can't brag about scoring three times against them!" Mamori looked over at them thoughtfully. "Well, there's the publicity… The flyers and posters help too. What if we played a game here?"

Kurita nodded. "Yeah. She's right… Why would anyone care about us if they haven't seen us?" Hiruma sat down and brought out his computer and phone. "All right! A game this weekend!" Monta gapped at him. "_So soon?"_

Sena smiled at him soothingly. "It's just his way. Calm down." Hiruma sent them on their run with instructions to get some equipment on the way. Sena jogged calmly next to Monta, wondering when he would get to see Rui-kun. "Hey, that's it." Monta broke into Sena thoughts, pointing to the sports shop that Hiruma wanted them to get the equipment from.

"_**Maximum effort! RUN!"**_ Raimon shouted as he took off, sprinting towards the shop. Sena shook his head in amusement. "Hey, wait up…" As he started to follow his friend, he crossed the path of another jogger. He glanced up to apologize, the words stopping when he saw that the jogger was Shin. Sena assumed that Shin didn't recognize him when the taller teen continued to run past him.

Sena was about to catch up to Monta when he was stopped by a deep tenor behind him. "You're Eyeshield 21." Turning Sena saw that Shin had stopped and turned to look at him. Sena nodded with a slight smile. "Yes, I am. My real name is Kobayakawa Sena. Please to officially meet you." Sena bowed politely. Shin bowed back, a little puzzled by this player.

Shin didn't know what to make of the small teen. He was athletic, but not sporty. He was light weight, but strong. The boy was a complete contradiction. Before Shin was able to say anything, there was a shout from the stores. Sena turned toward the shout in time to watch some teens on a motorcycle grab the team funds from Monta's hand.

"Damnit! That's the team's money!" Sena snapped as he took off after them. He was pissed now, because he knew those teens. They were on Rui-kun's football team. He was definitely going to talk to Rui-kun about this. You don't mess with another person's team, especially his team.

"There's a traffic jam on this side of the bridge," Shin said, running beside him. "You go on the left. We'll attack on both sides." Sena nodded in confirmation. They took off at top speed after the teens. They caught up to the motorcycle quickly. Since he was on the left side, the teens saw him first. The sight of Sena running and keeping up with the bike confused and startled them.

It also distracted them enough for Shin to jump in front of the bike and grab them off of it. Sena jumped onto the bike and slowed it down to a stop. He didn't want an accident to happen and for somebody get hurt. As he walked back, several police cruisers pulled up. Monta, Shin, and he gave brief statements and were turned lose.

Shin got ready to leave. "Thank you for your help," Sena said, bowing to the tall boy. Monta copied him. Shin pause for a moment. "So you've got a receiver now?" Shin noted thoughtfully. "Come to the fall tournament fully prepared. Ojo will be stronger in the fall." He turned and looked over his shoulder at them. "I will be waiting for you at the finals." He then turned and jogged off.

Sena was impressed with Shin's cool and even temper. Monta was more impressed with how he talked than anything else. They went back to the sports store and got the equipment Hiruma sent them for. Monta had gotten the money away from the teen that had stolen it. On the way back, Monta continued to talk about Shin. It was rather annoying by the time they got back to the clubhouse.

Monta was doing an impression of Shin's last statement as they walked the last few feet to the clubhouse. "He sounded a lot cooler than that," Sena informed him and ignored the order for him to do it. They noticed the door was open and peaked in. There was Rui-kun and his team adviser, sitting at the table. Across from them was Hiruma… in Sena's Eyeshield 21 jersey.

Sena just had to shake his head. Only Hiruma would bad mouth his friend in his jersey. It was as Rui-kun was reaching across the table to strangle Hiruma that Sena got fed up with the two of them. He walked in and just as Rui-kun reached Hiruma's neck, he grabbed hold of his pants. Yanking him back into the chair, Sena smacked him on the back of the head as he sat down.

"Knock it off, Rui-kun," Sena said firmly as the lanky teen turn towards him. "Eyeshield 21- san, Mamori-nee-chan, if you could, would you go find Hiruma-san?" Sena's tone was very sweet. Hiruma didn't conceal his wince this time. He knew that Sena wasn't going to be very nice when the two of them were alone together. He was very interested to find out why Sena was so friendly with Habashira. He head off to change, Mamori following along in a confused fashion.

"Err… Hi, Sena-kun. How are you?" Rui asked, knowing that Sena wasn't all that thrilled with both, Hiruma or him. He knew that it was Hiruma in the get-up. Mostly because Sena didn't sound anything similar to the voice that Hiruma was using. And Sena wouldn't talk to him like that. Sena was a lot more direct.

Sena turned a cool gaze to his friend. "I'm well. Yourself?"

"Can't complain."

"Indeed. Well, I just had an interesting shopping experience," Sena spoke in a very conversational tone, which put Kurita and Monta on edge. "See, as my friend and I were going to get some equipment, I ran into a friend. I stopped to talk while Monta-kun went on. Imagine my shock and dismay, when I heard Monta-kun yell and I turn to see some kids riding off with the team's money." Rui paled a little bit.

"Now, understand that I do read the newspaper and know that there were robberies around that area," Sena continued, ignoring Hiruma, who just walked in. "However, I do expect teams to respect other teams. So when I see some of the Zokugaku Chameleons stealing from my team, I get a little irritated. Especially when Monta-kun is wearing one of our jerseys. They should have known better."

Sena was staring at Rui with an intensity that bordered on psychotic. Rui was looking everywhere _but_ Sena. He did not want to meet his small friend's gaze. Rui really didn't want to admit that those kids were doing the robberies on his command. He was going to have to talk to the boys that were in charge of doing the robberies.

"So tell me, Rui-kun," Sena leaned towards his friend, smiling sweetly. "Why is it that they didn't know better than to steal from Deimon? From _my_ team?" Rui was sweating bullets now. Hiruma was standing back, struggling to control the impulse to latch on to the small brunette and hug him. He was really proud and excited to see this side of Sena. It was very interesting to know that Sena's method of getting information was just as scary as his.

"I told them to do small robberies along the river bank," Rui admitted sheepishly, finally looking at Sena. "Small ones, mind you. I didn't want any kind of police attention. I didn't know that you go jogging around there. If I knew that you did, I would have told them to not mess with you." Sena's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I see," Sena said slowly. He knew that Rui-kun wasn't always on the legal side of things. He also knew that he wasn't going to turn Rui-kun in. Finally, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You're an idiot, you know that?" Sena asked as he leaned back. Rui relaxed into the chair and gave a tentative smile in return.

"Yeah, I've been told," he replied as everyone in the room relaxed again. Hiruma had noticed that the room had gotten considerably colder when Sena was interrogating Habashira. He knew that the damn manager would have had an aneurism had she seen the chibi doing that, so he sent her to go get some papers from the teachers' lounge. No need to spoil the chibi's surprise yet.

Rui left shortly after that. Since it was almost time for school, Monta and Sena went to go change. As Sena walked to class, he thought about what Rui-kun told him. He didn't really agree with what Rui did, but he wasn't going to tell him how to handle his minions. Sena got his point across though. Messing with his team was just dumb.

Sena sat through his classes impatiently. He wanted to talk to Hiruma during break about the game for that weekend. When lunch rolled around, hurried to the upperclassmen's rooms to see if he could spot Hiruma. He looked in all of them, but didn't find the blonde. Shrugging, he went to the cafeteria to get some food. On the way back, he ran into Monta. "Hey, that was really brave of you this morning!" Monta chatted excitedly. "Not that brave," Sena said calmly. "I went to the same school as him in middle school. He isn't that bad."

"**YA—HA!"** The two of them jumped as they heard their captain's favorite saying bellow its way over the com system. They stood and listened to the insane blonde gload the school into coming to Saturday's game. Sena sighed in exasperation and irritation. "Now, we'll have to win," Monta gulped.

Sena headed up to the roof. He ate lunch with Juumonji, Toganou, and Kuroki. They looked at him. Guessing that they wanted an explanation for the big announcement, Sena quickly informed them about what all happened that morning. They glanced at eachother when he explained about Rui, but didn't say anything. The four of them finished eating and went back to class.

After school, the permanent players gathered in the clubroom. Mamori read about the Chameleons captain and Hiruma showed them on the TV why they weren't in the spring season. Sena knew all of this, so he ignored it. When Monta made a comment about Rui always carrying his butterfly knife, Sena did mention that _somebody_ always carried a gun at their school as Hiruma walked out with a semi-automatic in his hand.

The whole team went to get out the practice gear from the storage room. While Hiruma made a comment about five million yen in response to some thing that was said and went on about the game, Sena notice a wooden board with some black scribbles on it. Kurita pulled it out, revealing that the scribbles were really a drawing of a football player in the catching position.

"Do you want me to put Rice Man out?" Kurita asked Hiruma. Hiruma looked over his shoulder at the big teen. "We don't really need him." Mamori and Monta questioned who 'Rice Man' was. Kurita displayed the board for them. He went on to explain how Hiruma and he had made it so Hiruma could practice passing.

While the rest of them set up the gear on the field, Hiruma hung Rice Man up on a goal post. "Now that we have a receiver, we don't need Rice Man anymore!" Hiruma announced to them. "It's time for his end!" with that, Hiruma opened fire on the board. Everyone dived out of the way.

"Hiruma is very happy that you joined the team, Monta-kun," Kurita said quietly to the monkey-ish boy. "He wants to throw the ball. He practices all the time, but he's never had the chance to prove how good he is." The friendly boy smiled then tackled the board. "Funurghba!"

Mamori was yelling at them both as Sena turned to Monta. "We will need to apologize to Mamori-nee-chan later," he said. Monta grinned. They picked up Hiruma's bazooka and fired at the board. It was in very sorry shape now. As Kuroki and his friends joined them in kicking and breaking up the board, Sena noticed that Mamori had decided to join in.

The problem was that she grabbed a flamethrower instead of a gun. Sena shoved Monta and the former bullies out of the way. He waved for Kurita to move away from the broken pieces of wood and grabbed Hiruma's wrist. He pulled the taller teen back just in time. Mamori squeezed the trigger and set the board on fire, along with a good fifteen foot radius around it.

Sena was barely aware of that. What he was really aware of was Hiruma pressed against him. When he yanked Hiruma out of Mamori's line of fire, Hiruma had been plastered to his side. Sena blushed slightly. Hiruma pulled away before Sena could say anything. Sena glanced at the tall boy, hoping that he wasn't upset with him. He couldn't tell what Hiruma was feeling as the blonde had turned away.

Hiruma was having his own problems. When he was pressed against his small running back, it had felt really good. It wasn't something that Hiruma wanted to feel. He shouldn't be having these strange urges. Most of all, he shouldn't want to kiss the brunette. So in true Hiruma fashion, he decided to ignore the whole thing.

Hiruma noticed some students watching. He started yelling, promoting the game, while Mamori ran to go get buckets of water. It took an hour to get the fire under control. The fire department had to be call. Since Hiruma was there with his little black book out, the firemen didn't make a huge deal out of it.

Once the fire was completely out, they started doing their drills. Sena was doing them as the manager until it came to doing a full-on body contact drill. He was sent to go 'find' Eyeshield 21. He changed and headed back to the field. He met Monta on the way. "Sena, what are you doing?" Monta asked, confused.

"I'm Eyeshield 21," Sena explained like it was the most normal thing in the world. "I told you, not everything about this team is as it seems." Sena sat down and gestured for Monta to join him. Monta sat down with a dazed look on his face. Sena explained why he had to have the eyeshield and why Mamori couldn't know who he was. Kurita joined them at one point and added to the story.

Reassured, Monta nodded. "I don't care that you're Eyeshield. I'll keep it a secret." Sena and Kurita both beamed at him. They headed back to the field. Once there, the three of them joined the other four in a mock game. Sena was showing Monta how to catch the ball while it was over head when Hiruma came over to them.

(A/N: Remember, Sena recruited him, without Hiruma lying to him. He would have a different reaction to finding out that Sena is Eyeshield.)

"No, no. Just one hand," Hiruma said to him. Sena lifted one hand. "Now drop all but the middle finger." Sena did as instructed, a little amused now. Hiruma snapped a picture and ran off. Sena shook his head and continued with practice. Hiruma didn't show up for the rest of the day.

Sena went home after practice was call off. It wasn't all that late, so when Agon joined him on his way home, it came as a shock. Agon just walked up from behind him and tapped his shoulder. Sena jumped, spun around and, using the momentum from the spin, threw a fast right hook. Agon was able to dodge it, barely. "Easy, Sena-kun," he said soothingly. "It's just me. I'm sorry to have scared you."

Sena blinked a couple of times before he breathed deeply. He brought his fist down to his side and unclenched it. "Agon, please don't sneak up on me," Sena requested softly. He was still in fight mode. "Being down at the docks makes a person jumpy. It can also teach a person to react first and think later. I don't take someone coming up behind me as a good thing." Agon nodded in agreement. They began walking again.

They made small talk as they walked to Sena's house. Agon wasn't quite ready to go past anything that wasn't superficial just yet. Sena respected that and didn't push. It was a short walk and Agon once again just continued walking. Sena gave a small wave and walked in. He went straight to the backyard and started doing one of his katas.

Sena's thoughts cleared as he went through the motions. He was in a meditative state when he reached the end of the workout. He smoothly flowed from that one straight into another one. He continued to go through his katas, until he reached his most complicated one. At the end of it he was very calm and collected. He stretched and cooled down.

Going inside, he was told that he had some time before dinner was ready. Sena smiled at both of his parents. He quickly showered and came back down. He decided to spend some time with his parents, since he hadn't been around them very much lately. After dinner, he didn't go upstairs as usual. Instead, he challenged his dad to a game of go. As they set up the board, Sena thought that random chances were wonderful things.

Well there we are. I'm sorry that it took so long. My computer stopped working for a while. I don't know if it got a virus or what, but it didn't work for about three weeks. Very annoying. Everything should be fine now though. Cheers!

NitaIce


End file.
